The Guardian
by HDTV-AllThisAndHeavenToo
Summary: She's never been real, never been able to live, never been able to have a mind of her own. But she's back, and very much alive.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Sorry guys, my previous story got erased on accident! Do I had to find it and upload it! Thanks for your patience!

"And who, are you?" Captain Jack Harkness aims his gun at me.

"Whoa there, pretty boy." I point my rod at him.

"Who?" The Doctor walks up, and when he sees me has surprised written all over his face.

"Oh come on. Don't look so surprised to see me." I grin.

"Who is this, doctor?" Jack asks.

"Captain, this is the Guardian."

I fling my black bangs out of my face, "Yup, and I'm here to save your lives."

* * *

The 10th regeneration had met Martha, Donna, and Rose Tyler. But he hadn't met me, well, officially. He wasn't supposed to. To be honest, I'm not supposed to exist outside of the Time Lock, but I guess these things, minor flaws can be re-written. So, maybe I am supposed to be out here, it's never clear to me.

The Doctor always seemed to time things out perfectly in every situation, not everyone lived, but the humans necessary survived. Why? Why did everything work out so perfectly for him? Seems a bit ironic, doesn't it? Well, let me tell you, it's because I was there. Who do you think gave the ideas, or the inspiration, or the convenient switch that Donna or Rose needed? No, I don't often exist out of ideas, or dreams, but I'm there.

The dear, Doctor of mine, still has no idea I'm even alive. It needed to stay that way, until a period of time, until the Doctor was alone, once again, until he had nowhere else to turn to.

The Tenth regeneration stopped the Time Lords from returning, but with cost, he was forced to regenerate. I watched as he went to Martha and Mickey, as he gave Donna the wedding present, as he saved the boy's life, as he said goodbye to Rose Tyler.

So now, who do you think sent the Ood? I sent it to comfort him, to make him drag on. I helped create the universe song. If I hadn't, he would've died in the snow, and that would mean, I would die too. I crept in the very corners of the T.A.R.D.I.S as he regenerated. I revealed myself to him as he suffered. The look on his face was torturous enough.

"I don't want to go." He begged, and I left as soon as he started regenerating.

What was I supposed to do? I know, I probably should've stayed, but I couldn't watch. I disappeared into a dark corner of the universe, and wept.

You see, that's my job, and it forces me to love him. The thing is though, he can never know of any affection except for protection. I was born to live like this, to watch over and guide, and to sacrifice for.

We have an interesting relationship, the Doctor and I. He knows I exist, yet never acknowledges it until it's too late. It's something even I can't explain, and I can explain most everything. Well, the Doctor can't even explain everything, like why did it have to be our war that had to be destroyed, well Time-locked. No one can explain that, or how I managed to escape, but that's not the point. The point is, I've come out of my hiding. The high authority time-lords' traditions no longer reign.

The Guardian is back.

* * *

The day I returned started like any other, I suppose. The Eleventh regeneration was saving the world from the Daleks, when he ran into a strange man. Captain Jack Harkness was out for the same cause as the Doctor! It was a wonderful reunion, but the mission wasn't going well.

The Daleks had the Earth surrounded with space ships. The skies had gone dark with them, and the death rays were ready to fire if the Doctor did not surrender. So of course, he did, but with a plan. When the Daleks weren't looking he sonic screwdrived the wires so that when a certain button was pressed, all the ships would explode. Clever, but risky, also because he hand deadlocked everything he altered.

The Dalek informed the two that there was no way to escape, as he forced them into holding cells. The cells were immune to the Doctor's screwdriver, so I peeked into the near future and discovered that the Dalek was right. The Doctor would not survive. This was my time to intervene. I dressed myself as a regular human. I clothed in faded jeans, a gray and purple shirt, and lastly a black cloak to hide my pale face, so I remained unseen in the shadows.

Dalek Supreme aimed his gun at the Doctor as he pulled out his screwdriver, ready to activate the certain button, which just so happened to be the same button that opened all the doors.

"Well then, we have a bit of a problem, don't we?" I twirled my sonic rod in my hands. (A sonic rod is a rod made of iron, but with sonic screwdriver abilities. So it's like a sonic screwdriver, except longer, and better. Well, for me at least).

"Who are you?" Dalek Supreme commanded as the Doctor's face lit up.

"I'm your worst nightmare, Dalek Supreme. So you let the Doctor and his friend free, or you'll be…" I flipped my hood off to reveal my face, "hmmm, what's the word? Exterminated!"

"And she has a sense of humor!" Doctor laughed, and clapped his hands together in excitement.

"She has returned!" The Dalek panicked, and left the room to find his higher authority, but he didn't get far. With a quick swing of the Sonic-Rod, it was discombobulated and spun all about. I ran to the control center to let the Doctor and Jack free.

"And who, are you?" Captain Jack Harkness points his gun at me once he's free of his holding cell.

"Whoa there, pretty boy." I point my rod at him.

"Who?" The Doctor walks up, and when he sees me, in person, has a surprised written all over his face.

"Oh come on. Don't look so surprised to see me." I grin.

"Who is this, Doctor?" Jack asks.

"Captain, this is the Guardian."

I fling my black bangs out of my face, "Yup, and I'm here to save your lives."

"It's so nice to finally meet you, Guardian." The Doctor walks up and shakes my hand.

"What, you actually appreciate me now?" I raise a brow, and he looks confused for a minute.

"I always- I always have… haven't I?"

"We'll talk about it later, okay? Gah, this mortal body is demanding!" I think aloud as we run to the controls and start to maneuver the ships away from Earth.

"Yeah, so I've heard, but since you are- how did you become to look like that?" The Doctor asks as we work, "The last time I saw you- The last time I saw you, I was regenerating." He gets a sad look on his face.

"Oh come on, Doctor! No time to reminisce now!" I try everything I can on the controls, but nothing seems to disable the exploding button.

"Alright, so there's no way to get rid of the button, but we won't have to worry about it if we escape!" Jack says, and we try to open the doors to the escape pods.

All of the sudden, a Dalek comes on the screen. "If we die, Doctor, and Guardian, you will die will us!"

"Why am I so thick?" The Doctor looks around. Jack and I raise a brow at him. "The only way to open the door is to press the button that blows us up."

"Right, so there is no escape." Jack sighs.

I knew this was going happen.

"How fast can you run?" I ask them both.

"Very fast." Jack says.

"Not fast enough to escape." The Doctor says in a questioning tone.

"Doctor, I've known you for hundreds of years…"

"Guardian… my Guardian, interesting name for a girl like you. I met you at the beginning of the Time War. You were assigned as my Guardian. It's what you were born to do…"

I interrupt him, "Yes, but you have to try."

"There's nothing we can do, except wait for the Daleks to come and blow us up or kill us."

"Where is the T.A.R.D.I.S?" I ask, looking for a way out of this.

"Right outside the door, but there's no way to get to it!" Jack protests.

"How long did you program the bomb for, Doctor?"

"Oh, two minutes, when it's pressed. But when it's not pressed, the doors are sealed. When it is pressed, the doors open."

"Can't you disable it?"

"Deadlocked. Well now it is." He sighs, "I've lived too long anyways. I'm tired." He stands closer to me.

I refuse to believe that the Doctor, my Doctor is giving up. "Why did you have to deadlock everything?" I think to myself. The thing that's going to blow up the ship is the electricity. If someone could gather all the electricity, that would buy time, and a way out.

"So there wouldn't be anyway the Daleks could win. I'm sorry."

"No." I raise my rod above the button, "You need to go." I jam my rod into the button. The doors fly open, and the bomb begins its countdown. The pain is what I feel first. It's something hard to describe. The electrical pulses seep into my veins. I try to ignore it, but it's too powerful.

"What have you done?!" Jack yells.

"Just go!" I demand and clench my jaw from a scream.

"Come with us! You have time." He begs.

"If she pulls the rod out, the bomb keeps going, but the doors close. It's our only way." The Doctor shakes his head.

"Please go." The tears stream down my face. It's been a while since I've cried, since he regenerated.

"Try to regenerate…"

"What then? Even if I regenerate, I still have to keep the electrical pulses on me, or they will kill you too."

"My dear Guardian," The Doctor smiles, "It's been a long time." A tear falls from his eye, and I realize, in the pain I'm feeling, is the pain that remains from my love of him. I love the Doctor? "You can't leave me just yet." He walks closer to me, and kisses me.

The kiss is the one I waited for my whole 999 years of living.

But it sends him all of the electric waves, but that's what he wanted. He falls on the floor, and his hands start to glow.

"What happened to him?" I fall next to him, then stand. The rod stayed in its place in the control center, with electrical sparks flying from it.

"He took the waves… he's regenerating…" I breathe.

"Let's get him to the T.A.R.D.I.S." Jack and I carry him into the blue box, as he starts to fully glow. The Eleventh was regenerating. I watch in horror as we T.A.R.D.I.S doors slam shut.

"We gotta get out of here!" Jack flies the T.A.R.D.I.S out into space.

"Geronimo." The Eleventh grins and explodes in regeneration. Jack and I watch as he morphs into a new man, or let's say, an old man.

"'Ello!" He grins, and cracks his neck.

We both give him blank stares.

"What? Do I look funny- Ohohoh! I recognize that voice." He beams.

"You look like the-."

"Number Ten!" I yell. I mean, he seriously looks like the Tenth regeneration! Perfectly identical in every way!

"Isn't it lovely? Oh, it's good to be back!" He claps his hands together, and directs the T.A.R.D.I.S.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. You can't just do that? Can you?" Jack asks.

"No, he's not supposed to." I say quietly.

"Its reverse regeneration, I believe it's called, now! Guardian, where would you like to go?" He looks at me and smiles.

"Wait, so are you the Tenth? Or the Twelfth?"

"Well, I look like the Tenth, but I suppose it's the Twelfth." He shrugs.

"But- but… um… okay…" I try to gather my thoughts as the pain from the electricity subsides, finally.

"Alright, so how do you two know each other?"

"Oh yeah!" I snap to attention, "Even if I am still alive, I can't choose anywhere to go!" I sigh.

The Doctor has a light bulb moment, "That's right! You're still under the order, aren't you?" He walks up to me.

"Yes. The Order of the Women of Time." I look away.

"Well, I suppose we can arrange that." He pulls out a necklace, my necklace of freedom. It has a silver chain, with a locket shaped like a star at the bottom. "You're free, free at last." He hands me my necklace, and kisses my forehead.

The black bracelets around my wrists fade; the glow encircles me, and lifts me two feet off the ground. I am a free woman of Time. This has never happened in the history of Time Women!

"How can you-?"

"I'm a Time Lord. I may do as I please." He grins.

"Will someone please tell me what is going on?" Jack asks from a corner.

"Oh yes, On Gallifrey, the Women of Time also existed in harmony with the Time Lords."

"Is there a difference?"

"No, just different names. And not everyone is a Time Lord or Woman! It's just a rank, and my friend, Guardian here, was one of the high ranking ones. But I suppose, to save time, I can call you a Time Lord too." He smiles at me.

"It would be an honor."

"Alright, so then what?" Jack asks.

"Well, we grew up together, and then the time war started. The women were called to do certain things, and the men were told to do others." He shrugs.

"I was recognized as the Guardian over two certain Time Lords, the Doctor and the Master. The only two left in the universe." I add. "But I failed."

"Hey, I'm still around. You did well." The Doctor smiles at me.

"So you two are about the same age?"

"Yes, well, he's a little older than me."

"Why was she the Guardian over you two?" He asks, putting the pieces together.

"That's the name she chose, the protector, leader. It's what she knew was her destiny. And, she took an oath."

"But now I'm free?" I ask the Doctor.

"No, you'll always be the Guardian of the universe, but you just aren't bound to me."

"Wait, so she swore to protect you, at all costs?" Jack takes off his coat and sits down.

"Yeah, well, she didn't know it would be me, but she did everything she could to win the Time War. Speaking of, how did you escape?"

"Well, you and the Master escaped. I simply followed my orders."

"My, you are clever! I like you! You saw into the future a bit, didn't you?!" He laughs.

I shrug with a smirk, "Maybe."

"You are something, Guardian."

"Like you aren't!" I take off my cloak to let me black long hair flow. "You initially created the Time-Lock."

"It wasn't easy."

"How I bet I let you two catch up? I'm going to bed." Jack gives both of us a wave and heads up some stairs.

"Are you sure he won't get lost?"

"Oh, he has his old room! He'll be fine." The Doctor waves him off.

"Alright." I shrug, and the Doctor takes a seat beside me.

"So be honest," His tone gets quiet, "How hard was it?"

"I don't know what you're talking about." I look at the ground.

"I think you do."

"It was really hard to watch you love, and then be heartbroken, it was harder to watch you fail. It crushed me every time. Watching you live, and not be able to be there, was the hardest thing I've ever done." I admit. In the depths of my bones, I felt an overwhelming sadness.

"What's wrong?"

I look up at him with a tear streaming my face.

"Hey, hey, it's okay. You don't have to watch anymore."

"No, but I have to feel. It's not like I have anyone left. I don't have a home either, you know."

My life is completely different. I was born to be a Guardian, so that's what I am. I never knew anything different. When the Time War started, my fate was set. But now it could be anything. I can be anything I want.

"Well, you could stay with me in the T.A.R.D.I.S." He looks at me.

"I don't know. I mean there are just so many things I've never seen…"

"And I could take you."

"This is all I've known for the past few years…" I say, and he gets a sad expression, "So why would I ever want to leave?" I smile.

"I hoped you would say that."

"Of course! I have my Captain, and my Doctor! What more could a girl need?"

"I have no idea!" He laughs.

"There was a point in time, when I wasn't around. What happened then?" I get a more serious tone.

"When did you find me?"

"I found you when you regenerated into the Tenth."

"It was for Rose. You know that, right?"

"I could tell. You regenerated for her. So why did you regenerate like that again?" I wonder.

"I'm not exactly sure, but I hope to find out soon. It is odd, isn't it?"

"Yes. That was the only time in recorded history you regenerated for specifically someone." I raise a brow.

"I don't know, Guardian. How did you pick that name, by the way, the Guardian?"

I shrug, "It's my destiny, remember? And the same way you chose Doctor, I suppose."

"So, you're a free Time Lord. What would you like to do tomorrow?"

I think for a minute, "I want to go to…. Hmm…." I yawn, "Oh I don't know. Let's choose tomorrow."

He laughs, "Sure. Go get rest. We have a whole adventure waiting."

"Do I have a room?" I ask.

"Yes! I created it a little after I regenerated. I think you'll like it." He smiles, kisses my forehead and walks me up the stairs. "Go straight 3 hallways, turn left, go down a little further, and it's on the right."

"Got it. Hey Doctor?" I stop; it's weird, being in an actual body. I have more of a sense of emotion.

"Hmm?"

"Do you have a room in here? I haven't really seen you in any place except the control room."

"I do. Maybe I'll show you sometime." He smiles, and walks down the opposite hallway.

When I get to my room, it's nothing I expected. It looks exactly like Gallifrey. The stars are out and beautiful. There's a picture of the palace on the wall, with the two Suns, and the mountain. It's my home, and it looks so real. I have this feeling, a feeling I had never felt. Longing. I wanted nothing more than to be at home. The lamp beside my mahogany framed bed glowed dim, like the Suns at sunset. I changed into spare pajama pants, and a purple tank.

"Thank you, Doctor." I smile, and turn off the lamp. I look up, lying in bed, and the stars remain glowing. A whole universe is out there, just waiting for me.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

When I woke up, silence filled the fortress, which is very odd for the T.A.R.D.I.S. I rolled out of bed and stumbled to the closet.

"Don't pick out an outfit yet, cheater!" A voice scolded me from the door. I jumped so high that I ran into the closet top, and hit my head.

"Ow." I rubbed my throbbing skull.

"Sorry." The Doctor apologized.

"Yeah. Whatever."

"Is that sass I'm hearing?!" He looked appalled, but jokingly.

I rolled my eyes with a smirk, walked over to my nightstand, and slipped on the necklace the Doctor gave me last night.

"You still can't get dressed yet, we need to decide where to go."

"I don't know. Let the human choose." I grumbled. With all of time and space buzzing through your mind, it's hard to get a clear head, and it can give you a headache, but when you focus on other things, it's easier to maintain.

"You're the one the one wearing the Necklace of Freedom."

"Let's just go somewhere great!"

The Doctor pondered for a second, and then had a light bulb moment, "Oh, I know!" He started running out the door.

"Where and when?"

"It's a surprise! Get something… dress-y on!" He yelled from halfway down the hallway.

"What's your definition of dress-y?" I called after him. Being in a physical body has defiantly changed things for me. I now have to worry about clothes, hair, showers, and sleep.

I never quite saw myself before last night, but I imagine I looked like a white cloud, when I wasn't in someone's mind, or dreams. On Gallifrey, I had a body, and oh, it was beautiful. I now have the same sort of body as I did, but leaving the Time-Lock did some odd things to it… I look more, human. And so does the Doctor. When I left the Time War, I was only able to leave as a little light to guide the Doctor and Master through deep space, and time.

I was snapped back to the present when the Doctor calls back, "The closet! Just go to the closet!"

I shut the door and crept quietly to the wooden doors, "What have you got in store for me?" I yanked back the double doors, and gasped.

A beautiful violet ball gown was hanging. It was decorated with white lace on the top half, which was perfectly fitting to my figure. It was sleeveless besides the 4 inch cuffs the hung down onto my upper arms. It reminded me of a dress that an elegant queen would wear. It looked like a Princess Dress.

"Do you like it?" The Doctor peeped his head in and grinned.

"Yes… although, it's a bit fancy…"

"It needs to be, for where we're going!" He grinned even wider, then shut the door to let me change.

It was a bit confusing with the corset and the hoops, but I eventually managed to mangle it on, along with the white gloves and white flats. I thought it was fun, getting my Time Lady body dressed up for the first time, in a long time. I pinned my black hair up, so that a few curls managed to escape and my side bangs fell. The thing that tied it all together though, was the star locket, my necklace of freedom.

The Doctor and Jack knocked on the door, "Are you ready?"

"Yes. I'm coming." I murmured and strode over to the entry. I never knew a true love, besides the one only a guardian could feel for someone she cared for, the one for the Doctor, but now, maybe because I looked beautiful, I was hopeful I'd find one. I stepped out into the hallway, and the Doctor was speechless.

"It can't be that bad, can it?" I smiled a little.

"Oh, it's not!" Jack said, quickly.

"You look great, very lovely, Guardian." The Doctor smiled and offered his arm to me, "Beautiful indeed." Jack nodded in agreement and took my other arm. Together, we started to sweep out of the T.A.R.D.I.S.

"So, we have Jack Harkness, John Smith, and who will you be?" Jack asked before we left.

"I'll be…. hmmmm…..I'll be…. Carol. Carol Bennett." I look for their approval.

"What a lovely name, for a lovely person." The Doctor grinned, and they escorted me out and in a huge ball room.

"Where are we?" I look around in awe.

"I believe the Paris Opera House. 1800's maybe? During the whole Phantom of the Opera shenanigans?" He smirked and examined the golden Opera house, where people where dancing all about. The grand staircase led to two hallways, and there where golden statues everywhere.

"Looks like we aren't prepared. This is a masquerade." Jack looked at the dancers.

"Oh don't worry, we're covered." John Smith says distractedly, "Not everyone needs a mask, but they're in the T.A.R.D.I.S if you want one."

Jack and I look at each other, and shrug, "We're okay."

"Good. Excuse me sir," John walks up to a butler nearby, "What are we celebrating?"

"The new year. How much have you drunk sir?"

"Oh not nearly enough!" John smiled that charming smile of his.

"So what now, John?" Jack asked, after we stepped away from the butler.

"We dance! Find someone attractive and take them by the hand!" John grinned. The music filled the hall as couples waltzed across the floor. Jack spun away with someone I didn't see. Just for a moment, I shut out all the music, and the talking, and the drinking, and the singing, and listened to the sound of dresses as the swept the ground and the shoes as they stepped lightly, in harmony with each other. It was the most perfect sound. It was a perfect moment.

"Excuse me, my dear, may I have this dance?" John held out his hand to me.

I took his hand, and we started to waltz across the floor.

"Where did you learn to dance?" He smiled, with a raised brow.

"I watched and learned." I chuckled.

"So this is your first time actually dancing. Did you ever dance on Gallifrey?"

"No, not much. I wish I had."

"I can't tell. You're marvelous at this."

"Thank you, John. I'll never be as good as you though." I winked.

He laughed, "Quite so! Now listen, there's a girl here, over there, do you see her?" He nodded to a pale woman, with long brown hair, and an engagement ring around her neck.

"Yes. What about her?" I asked in a sadder tone, because he noticed some other girl.

"That is Christine Daae."

My face lit up, "I always thought it was real! So where is the Phantom?"

"I don't know, that's why I want you to talk to her, make sure everything is in place. Do you have your Sonic… thing?"

"My Sonic rod? No. I left it at the Dalek ship."

"Good. It won't work here. Most everything is wood. Go talk to her. I'll investigate." We carefully walked over to the side.

"What about Jack?" I asked.

"He's doing his work too."

"Alright, then I'll get on it."

John nodded, and walked over to the champagne table. I casually walked over to Christine, and her friend, I believed was Meg Giry.

"Hello, my name is Carol; I suppose you must be Christine!" I held out my hand, and she shook it, gently.

"Yes! Carol, isn't this a magnificent party?" She looked around in awe, just as I had.

"Oh yes! It is beautiful."

"I think this is the best party the Opera house has had, wouldn't you agree, Meg?"

Meg jumped, from staring into the shadows, "Hm? Oh, indeed."

"Meg, is something wrong?" I asked, innocently.

"No, not at all, it's just that the Opera ghost hasn't been seen for 3 months!" She explained.

Christine sighed, "Oh please, not here, not now."

"He has to come back some time, does he not?" Meg reasoned.

"I suppose." I piped in.

"Not again." Christine sighed, again, and then announced, "I need to go find Raoul. Don't dance too much, ladies, you might get sick." She turned, and smiled at me, "It was nice to meet you, Carol." Then she left.

"I'm worried about her." Meg said concerned.

"Yes… I am too." I looked after Christine until she was out of sight.

"She is like an innocent child. Why of all people is the Ghost after her?"

I shrugged, "Who knows? Maybe he isn't even a ghost…" I thought aloud.

"If he isn't a ghost, then God help us all." She sighed, and hurried over to the champagne table.

I looked around the dances to see if anything else odd was going on.

"Excuse me, Madame, may I have this dance?" I turned to see a young patron, maybe twenty, dressed in an all-black suit, and very handsome. I took a quick glance to make sure John wasn't in sight before I took his hand, and said, "Of course."

We started to dance very gracefully, but so unlike John and I.

"I'm sorry, but I have not heard your name before." He smiled. His pale skin went amazingly with his pitch black hair. His blue eyes were hidden behind a white mask.

"Oh, it's Carol. Carol Bennett." I said with the most elegance. I thought I recognized him, but I wasn't sure.

"What a lovely name for a lovely woman." He replied. My smile faded. That's exactly what the Doctor said to me. Where was he, speaking of? In the twists and turns, I was able to spot Jack, still dancing, but not him. "Is something wrong?" The man carefully led me to the side.

"No, I'm just looking for a friend of mine."

"I'm sure she'll show up soon." He smiled a warm smile, so unlike Jack or the Doctor's, it made me a little frightened.

"So," I cleared my throat as we walked back onto the dance floor, "What is your name?"

He scanned the room, then got a sinister, straight look on his face, leaned into my ear and whispered, "The O.G."

I stopped as I felt a strong hand grip my arm.

"We have to go, now!" The Doctor appeared by my side.

The O.G disappeared into the shadows, but continued to follow us.

"B-but the Opera Ghost…" I resisted.

"Jack!" John yelled and Jack let go of his dancing partner.

"Is it real?" I looked into the Doctor's eyes as he leads me away from the dance floor.

"The movie doesn't show it all. You should know that! He is a real person who kidnaps women… and never returns them, so why is he playing this game with Christine?!" He thought aloud. He had a look of fear, but anger all about him.

"But you aren't a lady." I laughed, but only because he looked so afraid, although Jack seemed to be catching on.

"You are!" He said harshly.

"Carol…." The O.G whispered a few feet in behind us. I resisted a little more. I didn't want this to happen to anyone else, especially not Christine. If I didn't stop this, she would die. I watched as Christine and Raoul walked out of the hall, so I started running towards the dance floor, towards the O.G. It was hard, because people were still dancing. Did they not care about the commotion in the hall?

My life started moving in what seemed like slow motion.

I heard the Doctor's voice over any other.

"Why are you acting so human?!" He yelled.

I turned, and he immediately regretted saying it.

He sprinted towards me with a look of desperation on his face, Jack followed.

The O.G captured me from behind, pulled me into a spare room, and dragged me down some trap doors. I heard the sound of the Doctor banging on the wooden floor doors, and hoped I'd see the light of day again.

"What do you want with me?" I asked calmly as he dragged me down some catacombs, and forced me onto a boat, where he tied my hands behind my back.

"Hush." He commanded.

"What, afraid I'll wake someone?" I chuckled. With a quick slap of his hand, my face was read and throbbing. I remained quiet.

When we got to his little domain, it was everything I expected. Mirrors, candles, masks, and music; it was all there.

"Now can I talk? What do you want?" I asked, stepped out of the boat on the rocky ground, and looked around the place.

"Do you know what I need, Carol?"

"Nope. That's why I asked."

"Don't give me attitude, or I'll hit you again!"

I looked away, as much I refused to admit it, that hit across the face stung.

"Now," He gathered his temper, "I need a wife." He smiled evilly and peeled off his mask. It wasn't just his face that was messed up. It was his whole body. He used perception filters to look relatively normal.

"What happened?" I asked in disgust.

"What this?" He motioned to his body, "This is the average look on my home planet that you wouldn't know anything about." The smile of his remained.

"Oh, try me."

"I'd blow out brain, sweetheart."

"I don't think so. See, you aren't deformed, or even a human at all. You're a common resident of Tylin, the ugliest race in the universe, but you were exiled. Why?" I pace around, trying to free my hands, but I get a surprised look from the O.G.

"I tried to take over the throne, and almost succeeded."

"Oh! I revolutionist! Well done, but not well enough. You were captured, and got the punishment worse than death; banishment to Earth to live as an outcast the rest of your days."

"Correct. How do you know so much?" He glared.

"I've done my homework. My question is, what do you want with the human women of Paris of all places?"

"Company…. Love…. Beauty." He said with a hint of ashamed, "All I have left is my music abilities, so they're easy to reel in."

"That's sick! And when they grow old, what then? You're a Tylin; you need to dispose of your extra 'weight'. Please don't tell me you-."

He pointed to a pile of bones with a smirk, "Again I'm going to ask, how do you know so much?" His smirk faded, and evil replaced it.

"I am a Time Lady, a woman of time. I'm the last woman of my kind. I come from Gallifrey, and I hereby banish-."

"Wait!" A familiar, exhausted voice said from the gate.

"Doctor! I'm banishing him!"

"You can't." He pulls up in another boat, "There is a fixed point in time that needs to happen. And we need to leave." The Doctor untied my hands.

"You're lucky you got away." I glared at the O.G. "When I come back, when the fixed point is finished, I will come back and personally see to it that you never do this again."

"Lucky, I may be, although, I don't believe Christine will be so lucky." The O.G said quietly.

"Don't hurt her!" I yelled as we leave. "Doctor, we can't let him do this to her!" I begged.

"That's the fixed point." The Doctor whispered softly.

"I can't believe you're just going to walk away!"

"The Doctor knows best." Jack promised.

Not another word was said until we were back and safe in the T.A.R.D.I.S.

"Doctor, you know I can't stay forever…" Jack started.

The Doctor answered a little sadly, "I know. I'll drop you off at Torchwood."

"I have to get back to my team, my family." Jack reasoned.

"I know. I understand." The Doctor smiled, and flies the T.A.R.D.I.S to the Torchwood base where Alonzo was waiting.

"This is where I belong, looking after these guys." Jack smiled and waved to us as the door closed. I wave, but when they close, my smile fades.

"How hard did he hit you?" The Doctor examined my face, gently, carefully.

"Ow." I wince, "Don't touch it!"

"Sorry. If he would've hit you with his fist, and a little higher on your head, you would've been dead. No regeneration." He said quietly, as if he was afraid it would happen. "But look," He smiled again, "It didn't happen. You don't need to worry about it."

"I'm not worried about that…" I looked away.

"Oh don't worry. He'll be back." The Doctor lifted my chin gently, "You can't be _that _sad about it. We have everything ahead of us."

"What really happens to Christine?"

"Well, Raoul saves her, and O.G moves to America, where Meg falls in love with him, but he doesn't kill another woman." He promised.

"Is it because I stopped him?"

He smiled a little, "I think so, yeah."

I smiled, and then frowned again, "You said I was acting like a human. What is that even supposed to mean?"

He sighed and let my face go, "It means you were acting with you hearts, not your head. It's not bad, but as a Time Lady, you have to learn how to make the correct choice. Not the right or wrong choice, but the correct one." He took my hand and sat beside me.

I nodded in response.

"We can never be split like that again!" He made the mood lighter.

"Why?"

"I felt a hearts attack coming on." He laughed.

"I wasn't worried." I shrugged.

He had a puzzled look, "Why not?"

I looked away with a smile on my face, "I knew you'd come."

He chuckled, "That's right. I always will."

"How did you get to me, by the way?"

"Oh, Madame Giry led me down the corridor. Jack and I ran into a few traps, but we escape and got to you."

"At least you managed."

"Speaking of, last of the Time Ladies, huh?"

"It's not a title I'm happy about!"

"No but you used it to your advantage today. I'm proud of you. You were brilliant!" He bumped my shoulder.

"Thanks!"

"That Tylin was scared!"

I laughed, "Oh, I know!"

"The Guardian of the Universe and Nightmare of Tylin!"

"It has a nice ring to it."

The Doctor yawned a little, and then said, "Where would you like to go tomorrow?"

"I was thinking somewhere in the future."

"Future it is. Hey, I have something for you." He jumped up, ran under the T.A.R.D.I.S and when he came back up, he was holding out something long under a cloth.

"It can't be…" I took it in my hands, and behold, a brand new Sonic Rod.

"It is! You lost yours, so I thought I'd make you a new one!"

"Thank you!" I hugged him tightly and examined the rod.

He grinned, "Better rest up. We have a busy day tomorrow!"

"Wait, Doctor." I stop before I go down the second hallway.

"Yes?"

I pause, "Oh, nothing. I forgot. Never mind."

"Alright. Goodnight, Guardian."

"Goodnight," I whispered softly, "My Doctor."


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

"Guardian, Guardian, wake up!" The Doctor crept in my room. I rub my eyes and look at the clock.

"It's 3 in the morning. What could you possibly need?" I sat up to make sure he was alright.

"Everything's fine, I just have something to show you. It will only happen once in Earth's lifetime, and we get a front row seat." He grins. I got out of bed and took his hand. He led me to the door of the T.A.R.D.I.S, where there was a blanket sat out and two cups of tea.

"This must be pretty impressive to be picnic worthy." I took a seat.

"It is!" He pops open the doors, and took a seat by me.

"What are we looking for?" I gaze into space, searching for an object of any kind, besides the Earth.

"Wait for it…. now." He points over to a certain star that was exploding. A supernova was happening right in front of our eyes. The star glowed purple, and blue, and orange, and all sorts of colors. We were close enough to see it perfectly, but far enough away to be safe.

"Wow…" I stare at the exploding star.

"Brilliant isn't it?"

I sip my tea, "Yeah. When does this happen, in history?"

"November 21st 3000." He smiles.

"I like that day… I like that day a lot. Why do I like it?" I think aloud.

He gives me a blank look, "I have no idea, but I like Saturdays!"

I laugh, "Saturdays make me think of the end. I like Wednesdays."

"Wednesdays are so boring! Oh look! It's white!" He points back to the Supernova.

"We're watching this in a time laps, aren't we?"

"Yeah."

"Because normal Supernovas take millions of years…"

"Exactly! What did they teach you in Time Academy?" He chuckles.

I gave him a nostalgic expression.

"Oh no. We are not going there. We are not going down memory lane."

I shrug, "As you wish." And in two seconds, the supernova disappears, and blackness remains. We sit in the silence for a little bit, thinking about the wonder we just saw. Being a Time Lord doesn't subtract from the wonder we feel when we see something absolutely amazing.

"You know, seeing a thing like this makes me hope that Gallifrey really isn't lost forever."

He stares out into space, "It has to be. They can never come back."

"I wish there was a way…"

"But there isn't! There will never be a way to bring the back!" He says more sternly.

Sadness fills my heart, and his.

"Look, I wish there was a way. It just isn't possible. Believe me; I've searched everything trying to find a way. It is literally impossible." He takes my hand.

"I know. I watched, remember?"

"Yeah… It's not meant to be… But hey, being the last makes us stronger, right?"

"I suppose. Thank you for showing that to me." I smile at him.

"No problem at all. I'm glad you were here to watch. Hey look, the sun is coming up."

We watch the sunrise, and at some point, I looked at him, really closely. The sun's ray's hit his face and made him look unbelievably handsome. I was taken aback, and almost gasped.

He looked at me the same way. The Doctor nodded and places his fingers on my temples. At some point, I started to put doors up, not on my love for him, but things of Gallifrey, things he already knows.

It was strange, trying to figure my way through his mind. It was so complex. The first thing I saw was an image of Rose Tyler, then of Martha, and each of his companions one by one, only occasionally seeing a door. But then my image appeared. The image of me as I kissed him, the picture of me in my gown, when he rescued me, my hurt face, and my face from my days on Gallifrey. It all came. There were words too. The words that filled my head were,

"Alone like me. Finally found her. Never valued someone like I do her. Last of the Time Women. Lovely and graceful. Fair. Vain. Beautiful. Am in love with her, even after River… and Rose? I think so."

We gasp and step back at the same time as each other.

"Well, at least we now have an understanding." I clear my throat.

"Yeah. Good." He scratched his head.

I look around, "What now?"

"You look tired." He smiles at me faintly.

I rub my eyes again, "I am, but I'm great!"

He laughs, "Go to bed. We'll talk about this," He motions to him and me, "tomorrow."

"You have yourself a date." I pick up the blanket and tea cup.

He picks up his, and tells me where to set them. We put everything in its rightful place, making only small talk. I start to walk back to my room.

"Oh Guardian, one more thing…" He walks up to me, and puts his arms around my waist.

"Yes?" I stare into his eyes.

He smiles, and kisses me, gently.

"Goodnight." He whispers and lets me go.

"Night." I smile and walk to my bed, where I have to hold myself together to not giggle like a ten year old girl.

* * *

"Guardian!" I hear the Doctor shouting my name.

"Huh?" I wake up, and I'm chained to a wall. The chains are metal, but the cuffs are wood.

"Guardian!" I sit up to see the Doctor, chained in the same things I am, but on the other side of the cell.

"What happened?!"

"I don't know. You and I were drugged to have our favorite dream. While we were dreaming, we were kidnapped."

I curse under my breath.

"Oi! Don't curse."

"I can't believe that was a dream!"

"We're trapped… unable to escape… and you're more worried about your dream?"

I shake my head, "No… no, just let me get out of my phase."

He waits, raising a brow.

"Alright. I'm good. Now I can panic."


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

"Where are we?" I whisper harshly.

"I don't know! A part of being kidnapped means we don't know where we are!"

"Where's your screwdriver?!"

"In my coat on the dresser!"

"Welcome Doctor." A sly voice in the shadows greets evilly.

The Doctor threw his head back to look at our enemy.

"Who are you and what do you want with us?"

"Oh Doctor, you know who we are." The thing stepped out of the shadows.

I gasp when it lifts off its hood.

"I thought you were just a legend…" I stammer.

Vaga Naraha, rulers of nightmares and darkness. Every nightmare a child had was because the Vaga Naraha wanted you to. They rule over the dreams and eventually take over the body of the people they send dreams to. The people become insane. And how do they travel? By the dark. They exist in light, but it's nearly impossible.

"Oh, we are. But a certain girl made us real." The Vaga Naraha grins.

The Doctor shouts, "Amelia Pond! She must've believed they existed!"

The Vaga Naraha smirks, "Of course, and now, Doctor, it's time to die."

A few more Vaga Naraha in hoods and robes grabs the Doctor by the shoulders and starts to drag him away.

"What are you going to do to him?!" I shriek.

The Vaga Naraha leader glares at me with red eyes, "Make him stand on trial."

"No… No… You can't do this. No." The Doctor starts to panic.

"Why is that so bad?"

"The Jury will find him guilty." The Vaga Naraha drags the Doctor away and leaves me in a pitch black room, still chained.

"Leave her out of this!" The Doctor shouts.

"The fun is only beginning for her. Let her become like us." The leader grins and slams the door.

"NOO!" The Doctor shouts.

The doors close and I hear nothing. No stirring, no shuffling of the Doctor, no nothing.

"Alone again, are you Guardian? You're little Doctor isn't here to save you…" An evil voice says in my ear.

"Stop it."

"The Doctor never wanted you with him. He just told you that because you were the last girl Gallifrey. What did you think he would use you for in the end?" He said in my other ear.

"He's right." The Doctor's face appeared on a screen on the wall. "He's absolutely right. Everything he says is true."

"What?" I talk into the screen, as if he could hear me.

"I never wanted you to join me. You're just necessary. And when all is done, I won't need you anymore. Maybe I'll let you be another casualty after I take all of your regenerations."

"No…" I cry.

"See what I mean?" The screen disappeared; the glowing red eyes took its place. "If you join us, maybe we could kill him for you."

"I don't want him to die…" I whisper.

The Vaga Naraha was taken aback at my compassion, "What? You mean you still have love for the Doctor?"

"If that's what it takes to free me, yes."

"Sleep now!" He said, and I immediately drifted.

* * *

I sit up and clear my eyes, although the tears remained.

"Guardian! Get out of here!" The Doctor yells from a lab table.

"Doctor!" I run over to him and try to free him.

"It's no use. Get out of here!" He yells.

"I'm not leaving you!"

"You have too…. I'm going to die… Just make sure that Gallifrey doesn't come back."

"I promise…"

His voice is filled with terror, "Keep the universe safe…"

"I will!"

"And remember that I-."

"You what?! Doctor!"

"It's started." He clenches his jaws. The Vaga Naraha walks in and hooks the Doctor up to some machines.

"What are you doing to him?!" I yell and grab at the beast. It hits me with a beam of something and sends me flying. I sit up, again, to finds the Doctor being electrocuted to death. His scream and mine fill my ears. The one thing I swore to protect… The one thing I ever loved… was just out of my reach.

"NOOOOOO!" I scream with all my being.

* * *

I wake up sobbing.

"Hush… Hush now…" A familiar voice says into my ear… it's the Doctor.

"But… but you're dead…" He tries my tears.

He wraps his arms around me, "That was only a dream… I'm here now… It will be okay…"

I cry in his arms.

"Come; let's get you by the fireplace." He leads me to the carpet in front of the fire pit and hands me a cup of tea.

"How did you escape?"

"Oh, you know," He shrugs, "I'm pretty clever. I figured it out."

"Good." I think to myself, "Where are we?"

"The T.A.R.D.I.S. Safe and sound."

"Thank you for saving me."

"It's no problem. What would I have done without you?"

I smile and drift back to sleep.

* * *

I wake up in the chains I was in before.

"Welcome back!" The Vaga Naraha says to me. I glare until it hurts. It all was a dream… but the Doctor's screaming seemed so real, and so did his embrace. "Aw. Is the poor Guardian sad?" He mocks me. "Let me tell you though, you're quite the night terror screamer."

I try to give him a piece of my mind, but my voice doesn't work. My throat is sore, and I've lost any means of talking.

"Oh don't try. It will only hurt your throat more. Believe me; I've had experience in these things." He chuckles, "You see, I used to be human too… until the Vaga Naraha came and adopted me. I was quite handsome too, before I became insane."

My eyes widen.

"Oh but don't worry. I like this side of life."

I shake my head sympathetically.

"You look like you're rested up. How about another round? Sleep." He lulls and I knock out.

* * *

I sit up in the middle of a court.

"The fate of the Guardian is in your hands!" The Vaga Naraha leader shouts and I hear other Vaga Naraha's shout:

"Death. Death. Death!"

"It sounds like the Jury has decided!" The Leader smirks at me.

I look around the huge bleachers of hooded figures and search for anyone I know… No one is there to help me.

"Wait! Take me instead!" The Doctor yells from the door.

I try to shout his name, but my voice doesn't work here either.

"You can't refuse…" The Doctor kisses my forehead and walks out into the middle. "You want me way more than her! Guardian, get out of the way!" He commands and pushes me aside.

"No!" I yell with all my voice trying to stop him.

The guards come forth and take away the Doctor to the executing room, and I'm dragged away to the execution room opposite of his…

"I tried." He mouths to me.

* * *

I wake up in an empty hallway…

"Doctor?" I can actually talk in this one.

"Guardian… Guardian… you left me to die!" He says from the corner.

"What? I didn't go anywhere…" I kneel beside him.

He lifts up his sleeves to reveal cut marks, "Kill the Guardian." It wrote.

"Why did you do this?" I place my hand on his face, but he slaps it away.

"I didn't do any of it… I waited for you for 200 years. 200 years I could've been seeing Rose Tyler in different times!" He replied sharply. That hit a nerve.

"I'm sorry I'm not good enough for you!"

He gets an amused face on, "Is that what it was all about? Traveling with me just so you can prove your worth?"

"No! I wanted to be with you." I say softly.

"I never wanted to be with you! I'd much rather be with Rose Tyler! Or Donna! Or Martha even! Anyone but you!" He stands quickly.

"What are you doing?!" I scream as he pulls out a gun.

"Killing the Guardian." The sound and smell of gunpowder fill my head.

* * *

I wake up tied to a lab table.

"This isn't funny anymore. You've proved to me your power!" I scream through tears.

"Guardian… I'm so sorry…" The Doctor nears me with a scalpel and other dissecting equipment.

"Doctor what are you doing?!" I shriek as he nears me.

"They are controlling me… Goodbye, my friend… my love…" Tears fall down his face.

* * *

I scream myself awake. I'm chained up to a wall.

"What's real, what's fake?" The Vaga Naraha calmly asks from the shadows. "It's up to you to decide. It's funny really. All of your worst nightmares involve the Doctor… He is a wonder, isn't he?"

I try to talk, but my voice is gone again.

"Oh, I agree with you. He really is. But is he worth all your nightmares? What about if you failed?" He smirks, "Sleep."

* * *

I wake up in Gallifrey. My home. I walk around, fully free. I miss the old place. I pat its walls and stroll around the palace, the place I lived for hundreds of years.

"We wish to see you, Guardian." The Time Lord council greets me.

"Alright." I smile. They lead me into the meeting room.

"We need to talk to you about your name…" The leader says.

"What about it?"

"You can no longer have it…"

My smile fades, "Why not?"

"You have failed. You let both of them die, as long as the Gallifreyan race."

"I can do better!" I plead, "Just give me another chance!"

"There is not second chance!" He yells, "You let both of them die! You are banished from the Time Lords, and hereby exiled to Earth to live as a human the rest of your days. You name shall now be Carol Bennett to hide the shame in your true name!" He yells and sends me away.

"No, no please!" I cry.

"Do not waste my time with tears!"

The Doctor leads me to his T.A.R.D.I.S.

"This one last trip, huh?"

"Doctor, please." I beg.

"I can't go against them…" He says sadly and flies the T.A.R.D.I.S to earth. "You know what I have to do now, right?" He nears my head.

"No!" I cry. "I don't want to forget… I don't want to end like Donna…"

"I am so, so sorry. Maybe I'll visit you in your human form…" He places his head on my temples.

* * *

I wake up in my chains.

"Crazy, isn't it, how dreams work?"

My voice still doesn't work.

"We still have a while to go…" He examines my face. "Let's have another go, shall we. Sleep."

That's what happens for what feels like forever. The Vaga Naraha torments me with dreams about the Doctor, about loving him, about hating him, about being with him, and about his death. He occasionally throws in a happy dream, just to torment me more, and then he'll throw in one about my failure in being a Guardian. It all remains so real. Every single time I dream, I truly believe it's real, until I wake up in the next one, just to be tortured again. And then I eventually end up in the same place I started to be confronted by the Vaga Naraha.

I wake again, chained to the wall.

"Do you know why this is so hard?"

I drowsily shake my head. I'm exhausted and dehydrating. I could be hallucinating and not know it.

"In each nightmare, you hold on to a speck of hope. If you'd just let it go," He holds my face with his freezing hands, "It would all be so much easier."

I again shake my head, and try to stand, but I trip and fall on my face. The dirt stings the cuts I already have on my face. I lean against the cold ground and embrace the feeling I have… despair. I don't want to sleep again… but I drift off anyways.

There are countless more rounds of dreaming and waking. Each time, I feel more and more hopeless.

"Oh look at you!" He grabs my face and examines it.

"What?" I'm barely able to croak.

"You're eyes are beginning to have a hint of red in them! You're going insane!" He giggles with excitement.

I refuse and clench my jaw.

"Don't reject it! It's fun! I'll be back. In the meantime, relax. Try; _try_ to gather your thoughts… logically." He smirks and walks out into the light… The light is so beautiful; I stare into until the doors slam shut.

The sounds fill my ears first. The sounds of the council's rejections, the screams of the dying Doctor dying, the yells of his hatred, even the shrieks of my dying family fill my ears.

"No…" I croak, "Stop it." I cry to myself.

I hear the Doctor's sonic screwdriver and get a glimpse of hope… he's coming to rescue me. I picture his smirking face in his suit. When the doors open, I start to sob. The Vaga Naraha is standing, not the Doctor.

"Oh come on. Don't be so upset to see me. We'll be best friends." He grins.

I curl up in a ball and cry myself to sleep.

A few more rounds of sleeping, waking, screaming, crying, and everything else came to torture me. I finally wake up in the chains again.

The Vaga Naraha didn't smile… didn't laugh, didn't even smirk. "How's your hope now? Tell me!"

I shake my head, for I had none left. I face the facts. The Doctor wasn't going to come; he was most likely dead by now.

"It's gone… isn't it?" He spat on the ground beside me. "I thought you'd last longer than that. You know how long you've been in here, Guardian? One month! Even if you had hope, it would be incinerated at my very words! Time for another break. Every two weeks, you'll get one."

I stare at the ground…

"Oh, and Guardian… I believe you're clinically depressed… and insane." He says in a sadder tone.

I try to clear my head, but I can't… I envision my dreams too much. They're all I think about. Especially the ones with the Doctor. They don't scare me anymore, they just sadden me, even when I feel like I can't get any sadder, BAM. It hits me in the face.

I lie on the ground and cry. It feels like that's all I do anymore. I hear the Doctor's sonic screwdriver at the door. I know it's not him. I know it's the Vaga Naraha. The doors open and I think I see the green light of his sonic screwdriver. I think I see his suit and his amazing hair.

The figure runs to me, "'Ello! Did you miss-?" The Doctor stops when he gets to the mess of me. "Oh, Guardian… what did they do to you?" I look up into his face, refusing to believe he's here… It's just another dream. "Come on. Let's get you out of here…" He sonic screwdrives me free, and picks me up. My eyes roll back into my head, and I pass out.

In the heat of the escape, I remember seeing The Doctor carry me in his arms, running from the Vaga Naraha. He lays me gently in the T.A.R.D.I.S and banishes the Vaga Naraha to the very depths of the universe, and they leave immediately.

* * *

I wake up in my own bed in the T.A.R.D.I.S. The Doctor is sitting on my bed, watching over me, guarding me.

"This has to be a dream." I whisper. It can only be a dream. The Doctor died… I watched him die.

"It's not. I banished the Vaga Naraha, and rescued you… What did they do?" He strokes a piece of hair out of my face, and I'm sure it's a dream.

"No… no. I just want this dream to end? Why do you torture me so?!" I scream.

"It's not a dream! We're really back on the T.A.R.D.I.S!" He comforts. "They sent you into the dreaming room… didn't they?" A tear falls from his face.

"Oh, don't even cry! Not one tear, Doctor!" I yell. "Why didn't you save me?!"

"I was captured… and trialed… and the Jury finally found me innocent…. I'm so, so sorry." He begs.

I get out of my bed, and fall. I can't walk. The Doctor turns on the lamp and helps me back on my bed.

"The dreams don't last this long." I say, gathering myself. "Therefore it has to be real…"

The Doctor wraps his arms around me, "It is… I will never leave you alone again. I promise. We will get through this together." He kisses my forehead, as I drift to sleep. The first real sleep I've had in a month, and yet, it's a dreamless uneasy sleep in the Doctor's arms.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

I wake up in the dark. I knew it was a dream. I sit up quickly and feel my wrists; no chains. I turn on my lamp and look around my Gallifreyan room. So it was real. The Doctor really did rescue me from the Vaga Naraha's dream room.

"What was it this time?" The Doctor walks in and plops on my bed.

"No dream." I say, it's true. The Vaga Naraha's dreams have been messing with my mind for the past month. No adventure, no chaos, no moving T.A.R.D.I.S, just recovery. I'm less depressed and as insane as I was before, I suppose. I ask the Doctor occasionally if he sees any advancement in my behavior, and he replies that I can do nothing but get better.

"Well, that's progress. Here take these," He hands me a handful of medication and a cup of water. I gulp it all down in one go. "How's your walking?" He helps me stand, and I walk around my room. I think I've recovered a lot, but the Doctor doesn't agree.

"There, see? I'm getting better! Can we please do something today?" I beg, still standing.

"No. You still are not fully recovered."

"Can't you tell? I'm a lot better than I was!"

"Come, come sit by me." He pats the bed. I sigh and do as he says. "I can't lose you like I did two month ago. I think I'd go fully and utterly insane. You're my companion. I really cannot lose you, Guardian." And I believed him.

"I'm not living up to my name much anymore." I chuckle.

"You will once you get back in the game, I promise."

A knock comes at the T.A.R.D.I.S, and the Doctor shoots up.

"Who is that?" I ask.

He smiles, "Some old friends." And he leaves to answer the door.

In the distance, I hear talking, hugs, laughing and footsteps towards my room.

"H-hello…"I say nervously as a couple walks into my room, cautiously. "Oh wait, you're Martha Jones! And Mickey Smith!" I grin.

"Hi, Guardian." Martha kneels beside me and examines my face with a worried look on hers, "Oh my gosh, you two are so much alike…" She looks at the Doctor, who looks ten times more concerned than her.

"What do you mean?"

"Not relatively speaking, but look in her eyes, Doctor, have you ever really looked at them?" Martha asks him.

He answers a bit confused, "Yes…."

"She has the same exact sad and old expression in them as you…" She wonders, "Mickey, come look at this!" She pulls her husband to look at me.

He gazes in wonder and agrees with her, "You're identical, Doctor."

"We cannot, cannot be related." He says sternly.

Martha shakes her head, "I never said that. I'm simply making an observation. Do all the Time Lords have the eyes?"

The Doctor shrugs with a puzzled look on his face.

"Anyways, to the matter at hand, Doctor, Mickey, why don't you two go out for a drink, and Guardian and I will stay here." She offers and smiles.

The boys nod and head out of the T.A.R.D.I.S.

"Well now then, how are you feeling today?" She sits by me on my bed.

"I'm okay, I guess." I shrug, "How are you?"

"I'm perfectly fine! But we're worried about you right now."

"Okay."

"Do you not like that?" She chuckles, "When I was little, I would love to get hurt, because when I did, I would get the attention from my mum. It must be great to get attention from the Doctor himself."

I sit, with my knees to my chest, "I never thought about it that way. I'm always the one taking care of him, or other people. I don't take many sick days."

She thinks for a moment before she talks. Her facial expression is most confusing. I can't tell if she's judging me, or trying to help. "So you remember what you were like before the Vaga Naraha…" She asks.

I get a skeptical face, "Of course… well, now that I think about it, it's hard to remember, but if I try, really easy!"

"Well that's good. What all did they do to you? The Doctor was having some trouble explaining…" She gets a softer tone and on her face is a look of slight fear.

"The Doctor not being able to explain something as simple as the Vaga Naraha? That's new." I comment to myself.

"He was pretty shaken up when he called…" She remembered.

"Did he cry?" I ask honestly.

"Yes."

"Did he mourn?"

"Of course he did."

"Was he worried?"

"Absolutely. It seems like you're worried about his affections…" She notices.

I blush, "Oh, I suppose…"

She grins, truthfully, "You fancy the Doctor, don't you?"

"Maybe… I'm not sure what I fancy anymore." I reply, with a straight face.

"What do you mean?"

"I watched him die…. millions of times and ways. I watched as he killed me over and over. I had to witness him hating me with all of his being. I don't think I could ever really think about it again without totally losing my mind. If you can't tell, I was close to it anyways."

Martha looks away with a sad expression, "It must've been hard…"

"Oh yes." I agree.

"You know that the Doctor would never do that to you… and he loves you to bits." She smiles at the last part.

I can't help but grin ear to ear, "I kind of figured. Who else would've waited two weeks to get out of a coma… and two more weeks to be able to even be able to talk like I am now?"

She laughs a little, "I don't think anyone could've. But you know it really scarred him."

"I figured… I feel horrible."

"Oh don't be! Guardian, you were tortured for a straight month. If anything, it's us who should be feeling bad."

"I know…. I know. What happened to the Doctor while I was in the dreaming room?"

She takes a deep breath, "Well, he was put on trial and was therefore put in jail. His one phone call was to Mickey and me to come and rescue him. So we had to build a spaceship to take us to where you two were. We helped the Doctor escape, but Mickey and the Doctor were captured again, so the Doctor sent me to get his sonic screwdriver to unlock them. It just so happened that the Doctor was going back on trial, and he was found innocent. So we found you, and left."

I take it all in. "Thanks for the rescue. And what the Vaga Naraha think the Doctor was guilty of?"

"Stealing something, I believe. We were all searched thoroughly and eventually found innocent. In all, the Vaga Naraha just wanted the Doctor to die."

I shudder when I think of the Doctor dying.

She gets a worried look on her face, "I'm sorry. Did it trigger something?"

"Just all the nightmares I had." I clench my eyes and my jaw as I push away all the nightmares I had.

"Think of the Doctor!" She commands.

"Not helping!" I close my fists tightly.

"Think of your home!"

"That's not helping either!"

"Don't think of anything!"

I think of white. White light. I think of a void between dimensions. Nothingness.

"Are you better?" She gently grabs my shoulder.

I let out a heavy breath, and smile and her worried face, "Yes!"

Her facial expression doesn't change, "Does that happen a lot?"

"Not really… It comes once every week, maybe? I dunno." I shrug.

"That's not good…"

"It does its business, then leaves. It doesn't bug me too much." Why does Martha think it's such a big deal?

"Guardian, those dreams should've driven you crazy in a week. How did you manage?"

I think back on the Vaga Naraha that was in the room with me, "I had more hope than most." My smile fades, and nothing replaces it.

"I am so, so sorry. But let me tell you," A small laugh escapes her mouth, "You should've seen the Doctor's face when he rescued you!"

My countenance brightens, "How mad was he?"

"I have never seen him so angry in all of my travels with him!" She grins. "He unchained you, then made sure you weren't dead. Your eyes rolled back, I guess, because he had the scariest look of revenge on his face. When you clung on to him as he ran, he was more hopeful, but didn't take it any easier on the Vaga Naraha. The Doctor banished them to every corner of the universe to live in the light and be in pain for the rest of their days. He chained each Vaga Naraha to a version of their human selves to torment them forever. He almost killed them, every single one of them."

My expression remained radiant, "So where were you and Mickey?"

"We were following close behind, making sure he didn't blow up the entire planet." She giggles.

"What happened when we were back on the T.A.R.D.I.S?"

"The Doctor dropped us off to grab some things, and stayed by your side for two weeks, making sure you survived your coma. Then you woke up, and he picked us up." She smiles, "I think he needed the company. You weren't doing so hot, so I guess he wanted support."

"Yeah. So what now?"

She chuckles, "Being a former doctor, I feel obligated to make sure you're in good health." Martha reaches into her bag and pulls out a stethoscope, and takes my hearts beat. "All good there. How's your walking?" I stand up and walk around my room. "Good, good." She examines every part of me, physically, but not mentally. I begin to catch on.

"Why aren't you examining my mind?" I give her a suspicious look.

She laughs nervously, "I think the Doctor could tell you more about your mind than I could."

"That's not it!" I yell, "Why aren't you? You know I'm not okay!" I jump off of the bed, run to my mirror, and gasp. My face is still extremely pale, and my eyes are switching from blue to red, and mixing, changing back and forth nonstop. A war is raging inside my eyes.

"How long has it been since you saw yourself?"

"Before we were kidnapped…" I mutter and stare at myself. I look pretty much dead.

"I'm so sorry." She walks up to me and places her arms around me.

"You lied to me… You told me I was doing alright. You made me think I was recovering on schedule!" I yell and storm out of the room.

"Guardian, wait!" Martha calls after me.

"You know what I can't stand Martha? Liars!" I storm out of the T.A.R.D.I.S and into the city. The people are what I notice first. Under my hateful glances come their pitiful stares. They think something is wrong with me! They think I'm mental, or recently dumped, or depressed. But I'm so much more than that. I am angry. I walk down the sidewalk with my head down.

"Excuse me," A voice says as I accidentally bump into them.

I mutter a response, "Sorry."

"Guardian?" The Doctor lifts my chin. "What are you doing out?" His smile fades. "You need to get back on the T.A.R.D.I.S, now!" He tries to take my hand but I slap it away.

"You made me think I was going to be better in a day or two. You lied to me, Doctor! You lied."

"You should know…" He says in a softer tone, "The Doctor lies."

"I didn't think you would lie to me!" I cry, "I didn't think you would have Martha in on it too!"

"Guardian…. I'm so sorry…." He apologizes.

"Just- just leave me alone." I push him aside and walk over to the pasture, by a little tree. In the distance, I hear Mickey tell the Doctor,

"Just leave her alone. Let her blow off some steam." The Doctor barely agrees.

I put my face in my hands and think. What is going on inside of me? The Insane Guardian, versus the gentle one. It takes an hour, but I eventually accept what I need to do. I storm back into the T.A.R.D.I.S and start to steer it away, to a very specific place.

"What are you doing?" The Doctor follows me around, making sure I don't crash the T.A.R.D.I.S.

"What I want to. Is that a problem?" I glare at the controls.

"Not at all." Martha walks in and sits by her husband.

"Good." I fly to a place I like to call hell, and it's the reign of the Vaga Naraha. "We're here." I mutter, grab my Sonic Rod and step out into the abandoned palace. A few Vaga Naraha stay, and try to hover over me in the shadows. "Oh don't even try it!" I yell and shine my rod at the shadows and they cower in fear. "That's what I thought." I look back and the Doctor is wide-eyed. "Are you coming, or not?" The crew runs to my side and travel with me.

"What do you think you're doing?" The Doctor questions me and pulls out his screwdriver, "Are you feeling alright?"

"I feel absolutely and perfectly brilliant!"

He clears his throat, "Well, that's good."

"It's fantastic." I open the doors to the Dreaming room. The room I was tortured in for a month. "Where are you?!" I call and shine my light around the room, "I know you're here!"

"Oh," a hysterical, exhausted voice says from a corner, "Come back to see me, did you?" The Vaga Naraha that tormented me remained in the chains I was in. "Oh look at you, you beautiful thing, you're insane… just like I was."

"She is not insane!" The Doctor almost yells.

"Hush!" I tell him, "Vaga Naraha, what was your human name?" I kneel down to his level.

"Michal." He replies, "Michal Davenport." I stare into his eyes and as soon as he said his name, there was a hint of blue in them. "What are you going to do to me? Torture me like I did you? I deserve it." He looks away, with more blue in them.

"Michal, you're free." I point my rod at the chains, and they let him go.

"Why did you do that?"

"Because," I reply plainly, "You're insane. Not evil."

He looks up at me with tears in his bright blue eyes and simply turns to dust.

"How did you do that?" The Doctor asks when I stand back up.

"I had to prove I had emotion left. And I did." I turn, and the crew is even more taken aback. "What, what's wrong?"

"Guardian…" Martha starts,

"Your eyes…" Mickey continues,

"Are bright purple!" The Doctor finishes, "The insane, and the emotion collided. You're safe. Look, your skin is even getting its color back."

"Why did this happen?" Martha asks.

The Doctor grins at me, "I dunno, she is quite brilliant, and right now, radiant."

"Let's leave here." I take my place with my hand in the Doctor's and we walk back to the T.A.R.D.I.S.

* * *

"Keep in touch." I hug Martha goodbye a few hours later.

"Oh of course!" She smiles and leaves the T.A.R.D.I.S with Mickey. When they're gone, the Doctor and I sigh of relief.

"Love them, but I'm glad it's just us right now." The Doctor admits.

Drowsiness overcomes me, and I start to stumble. The Doctor catches me in his arms.

"Oh yes, the whole 'Aphrodite's blessing' thing…" He thinks to himself as he places one of my arms around his shoulder and helps me walk to my bedroom.

"What?" I breathe.

"Your eyes are faded…. but still purple. They aren't glowing." He takes a seat by me.

I grin and lay my head on his shoulder, "Alright, I could do without glowing eyes."

"You were starting to be a freak show when the eyes came along. I was beginning to worry that I would have to drop you off." He chuckles and kisses my forehead.

"Oh no. What would I have done?" I reply sarcastically.

"Nothing, because I wouldn't make it a whole day without you."

"A day? An entire day?!"

"Yeah, well how long do you think you could last without me?"

I clench my eyes as flashbacks from the nightmares return. My body turns stiff.

"Are you alright?" He panics.

"Fine, just let me, be alright." I say through a clenched jaw.

He looks up at the sky, then back at me and kisses my forehead again, this time longer. This time, until I'm okay again. I look up at him after I'm better.

"I think you have magic kisses." I laugh.

He chuckles, "Maybe so."

"Will I be able to go out tomorrow?" I ask once we are back in the same positions as before, with my head on his shoulder.

"We will see. I just want you to be okay…" He murmured against my hair.

"I think I'll be a whole lot better with a night's rest, but before you go…" I say.

"Yes?" He looks at me like he's expecting something big to happen.

"You lied to me." My smile fades, and so does his.

"I feel absolutely terrible. You're a Time Lord, you deserve more respect than-."

"Wait, I just get your respect because I'm a Time Lord?" I glare.

"No… You get my respect because you're my Guardian, _my _Guardian… I promise; I will do my best to never lie to you again." He stands, kisses my forehead, and walks out.

"Goodnight, my Doctor." I call after him.

"Goodnight, my Guardian." He laughs and calls back. In the silence of the T.A.R.D.I.S as I start to drift off, I hear him say one or two words, but I can't make them out… I think for a moment on what they could be… Oh, I'll just ask him tomorrow.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

"Oh good morning, Guardian." The Doctor grins and wraps me up in his arms, "How'd you sleep?" He lets go of me quickly.

I rub my eyes, firstly to wake myself up, secondly to prove to myself that the Doctor really did just wrap his arms around me. "Fine, I suppose." I push a strand of black curly hair out of my face.

"How interesting…" He murmurs and examines my hair.

I swat his hands out of the tangled mess. "What are you doing?"

"Your hair was perfectly straight yesterday. Why is it perfectly curly today/.;

I give him the I-can't-believe-you-just-said-that look.

"What?" He asks, appalled that I was even questioning him

"The smallest, stupidest things interest you." I roll my eyes, "And I believe it's called 'Bedhead'."

His jaws drops, "Ohhh! You have a bad case of bedhead, then. On a total different note, did you know that you're sleeping more than most Time Lords are supposed to?" He warns.

"So? I've been sick."

"Yeah, if that than you would need like twelve more hours of sleep… But you don't need to be sleeping this much."

"And?"

"Usually, when a Time Lord sleeps more than required, it means…well, it means they're going to regenerate…"

"Why would I regenerate?" I panic, "I want to stay the same…"

"Look at me." He says.

"No… no….I don't want to regenerate! I don't want to go…"

"I don't think you will. Not yet, at least. The Vaga Naraha are killing you from the inside out, but once you regenerate-."

"NO!" A different voice in me shouts. It's like I no longer have control over my body. "I will not regenerate!"

"Stop it!" I scream inside of my mind, and oh it hurts.

"Guardian… Are you still in there?" The Doctor looks into my eyes.

"Yes, Doctor! I'm here!" I shriek. He pulls out his sonic screwdriver and scans my mind.

"She is in there! What do you want with her?"

"We need a body. She destroyed us." The voice replies. I turn around, in my mind, and I'm in a Savannah. The skies are dark with rain, and it starts to pour as I search the area.

The Doctor continues to talk to the other version of me, attempting to bargain with it.

"Yeah, so once you kill her, what then?" The Doctor's voice booms even in the Savannah I'm in. I turn towards the voice and run. I run to what I hope will be his arms.

"Once she's dead, we will kill you." The voice says.

"No!" I shriek. "You will not kill him!" I command as I run.

"Oh Guardian…" The Doctor taunts, "Are you hearing this?"

I zoom back into my body and answer as myself, "Yes." The pain comes from deep within. The regeneration process has just begun. "Doctor, help!" I beg, and then the other me comes back, and I'm back in the Savannah. I walk around, out of breath as the Doctor asks the voice to leave. I finally stumble across and assemblage of boulders. In the center of the boulders is a concrete slab that reminds me of a battle field. On a stone pillar a little shorter than me lays my Sonic Rod. I grab it and look around. On the other side is a very becoming man.

"H-hello." I walk up to him. He has on a black jacket on with jeans. He looks up at me with black blue eyes. "What are you doing in my brain?" I ask cautiously, not noticing who he was.

"What I was born to do in the first place." He grabs something shiny and slim beside him and stabs me in the side. I look down to see the blood flowing from my waist. A break from injury would be great, I think to myself. I ignore the pain and run, run for my bloody life. The man chases after me and eventually catches up.

"Who are you? What are you doing?" I plead as he pins me to the ground.

"Michal. You don't even care enough to remember me." He pulls his knees off my chest.

"You're the Vaga Naraha I freed." I stand.

"And by freeing me, you led me here, so whaddya say? One last battle for this body?"

"No!" The Doctor and I shout at the same time.

"Too bad." Michal draws his sword and charges. I dodge the blow and hear a groan of agony behind. I turn to see the Doctor with a sword through both of his hearts. The perfect angle. No regeneration.

My life seems to move I slow motion.

"Doctor!" I scream in what feels like agonizing defeat. I bolt towards his falling body and reach for his outstretched hands. Somehow I manage to hang on to his lifeless body before it hits the muddy ground. No words escape his grey face. The color was leaving his face as fast as the blood was leaving his body. He has a look of resignation on his face, as he gently places his hand on my cheek, then dropped it as life left his body. I close his eyes and let him sleep.

Meanwhile, the Vaga Naraha steps back in astonishment. I click the button on my rod and it becomes a sword.

"I- um propose a treaty!" He begs.

"Never." I growl and pin him to the ground, with my sword pointed at his neck.

"I'll leave! And never come back!" He pleads.

"You will never ever torture anyone like that again." I stab the Vaga Naraha in its left hand and the spirit flies at me. I catch it in my Sonic Rod.

Michal stands terrified.

"Michal?" I croak.

"W-what am I doing here?" He scans the area.

"Go home, Michal, to your family." I turn to him, my eyes tired, exhausted, and bloodshot. He nods, thanks me, and disappears back into the real world. I'm back in control of my body. The Doctor's is lying on the other side of the console. I fly the T.A.R.D.I.S to a certain time and place, and carry my Sonic Rod into the Opera house.

"Come back to fulfill your word, did you?" The O.G looks at me in despair.

"You shouldn't be too insane." I point my rod and unleash the Vaga Naraha into the Phantom's mind. He screams in peril, the same way I did.

"Help me!" The Tylin-Narha mix begs in pain.

I turn my back and walk into the T.A.R.D.I.S, the dead T.A.R.D.I.S. "Missing him too, aren't you, ol' girl?" I pat the doors sympathetically. When I see his body, his dead body, I fall to the ground beside him and weep all through the night. Everything I had ever had hope in, the one thing the universe had hope for, the only one I had ever loved was gone, and never coming back. Of all the things unexplained, this was the worst. Not only was my home planet gone, but him as well. I felt like the sobbing Rose Tyler, as she banged on the wall for the Doctor to take her back. I imagined the Doctor leaving the wall, alone. Yes, of the things untold, unsaid, this was the most painful. I was alone, once again.

When the sun started to rise on another terrible day, I started having ideas, any idea to bring him back. I couldn't help but think Of Rose, or River, what would they have done? River gave him her regenerations, and Rose looked into the heart of the T.A.R.D.I.S. Hours passed, I'm not sure how many, but they dragged on as I devised.

"I saw this in a movie once…" I mutter and place the tips of my fingers on the entry of the bloody wound. Regeneration light flows from my hand and into one of his hearts. The light spreads all through his body and his chest starts rising and falling. He was alive. I smile and gently kiss his cold lips, and they immediately become warm. His hearts start beating, but he still wasn't conscious; he needs time to heal. I pick him up and carry him into his room. The room is dark, but light from his body makes the room a comfortable dim. I lay him carefully on his body and look around.

On one wall is a picture of the palace of Gallifrey, with the mountains and two suns. On another wall are the pictures of all his previous companions, starting with Rose. One the next wall, beside his bed is a picture of the T.A.R.D.I.S, his sonic screwdriver along with Rose, River, Donna, and me. The picture of me isn't done yet, but my outline is and some of my color. There was some space beside me; I suppose to leave room for my next regenerations. On the last wall was the picture of the people he has encountered on his journeys, but never became companions. These were the people he cared about. That wasn't the thing that made it so great. All of the pictures were hand-drawn and painted. Not automatically done by the T.A.R.D.I.S, but done with his time and hand. And let me tell you, he's and amazing artist.

"Great, aren't they?" The Doctor shoots up from his sleep.

"Yeah." I sniffle, trying to not attack him with a hug. "How long do these- how long do these usually take?" I hold back my tears of joy.

"Oh, a long while, but um, how am I here?" He asks.

I give him an apologetic look.

"No, you didn't! Guardian! How much regeneration did you use?!"

"Only one, since River gave you the rest of hers."

His face didn't change, he was still hacked off. "I don't feel as bad anymore, but you shouldn't have done that!"

"What was I supposed to do?!" I reason.

"I don't know! Saved the world without me?"

"Let me rephrase this; what would I have done without you?" I counter tersely. He looks at me with shock, kindness, fright, and hope all in his eyes. "Besides it was only one regeneration."

His countenance goes back to what it was like before, "Still! That's an entire lifetime you gave up!"

"You weren't mad when River did it!" I yell and storm out, not having another word about it. I stride over to the screen and watch the Tylin-Naraha mix live in America, Coney Island it was called. I was wrong, he was completely crazy. I look around, making sure the Doctor wasn't behind me, and he was. I shut off the screen.

"I can't believe I let him live his days in hell." I sigh.

"I would've killed him…" The Doctor nears me and wraps me in a hug. The scent of his coat fills my nose, and reminds me of Gallifrey, and it was impossible to stay mad. The pain from the stab I took earlier comes back, and I double over in pain.

"What's wrong?" He searches for the wound. I remove my hand from my side to show him the wound. I stumble to the nearest railing and stare at my glowing hands. I'm regenerating.

"Doctor!" I panic, "Doctor!"

"Is this your first time regenerating?" He takes a step back.

"I've only regenerated once." I say through a clenched jaw. It feels like my whole body is burning. "It's….it's like I'm dying!" I look up at him wildly as a tear streak from my eyes.

"Goodbye, Guardian…" He whispers, and that was it. I burst into regeneration. My body glows and fire shoots out from under my clothing. The fire surges through my body and escapes through the T.A.R.D.I.S. My body was screaming for it to stop. Everything I knew of my former self faded into abyss. I was becoming someone different, someone new. I remember trying to picture his face as I regenerate.

Finally, it finishes. I let out a deep breath.

"Oh, hello! How do I- Whoa." I look around, "New mouth. That's weird."

He grins, "I know right?"

"Alright- how do I look?"

"Different!"

"Good different, or bad?"

"Good, I'd say." He stares for a while.

"What is it?"

"You just regenerated…. I've never seen a Time Lady regenerate!" He clears his throat and lifts up my chin, "But your eyes are the same!"

"Oh yeah!" I run to the nearest mirror. "Wow! Me gusta!" I say in a girlier tone. My hair is a deep, dark purple, almost black-ish. My skin is fair, but with the potential of being olive toned. And on another note, I have more of a figure I did before! Where I was flat before, I now have curves. "So _that's_ the kind of woman I am!" I say to myself as the Doctor walks in.

"Yeah. You don't look like a middle school student anymore." He replies sarcastically.

"Oh whatever!" I smirk and examine my ringlet styled fair. "I do like it!" I turn from the mirror and face the Doctor who is blinking at me. "Oh right! I need to change. Scootch." I shoo him out of the room and search the closet. I pull out a pair of white skinny pants, a light blue tank top, and some light blue converse to tie it off. My star locket remains on my neck and goes perfectly with everything.

I walk back into the control room and twirl for the Doctor.

"I do like the look." He grins.

"It's new, it's different…" I trip and fumble across the ground, "Oh yeah, it's finishing." I regain my balance.

"Fish Fingers and custard are in the second kitchen to your left." He says, flying the T.A.R.D.I.S.

"Thanks!" I lean up and kiss his cheek.

He looks at me with a happily surprised look on his face.

I sigh, "Oh. _That's_ the kind of woman I am."


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

"Rise and shine! We got a distress call from the United States, in Texas I believe." The Doctor runs into my room bright and early.

"Ugh…" I groan and quite literally roll out of bed. "What did they say?"

"It just says: 'Help'. Hurry up then! Change and get to the control room!" He announces and slams the door.

I rub my eyes to clear the drowsiness, and head to my closet. We're going to Earth and Texas at that, so it's bound to be hot. So, I put on jean shorts, a grey short-sleeved hooded shirt and classic converse to finish it off.

"Don't you ever get hot in those suits?" I walk into the control center, where the Doctor was donning his tie.

He shrugs, "I don't pay attention to it much. Well, don't just stand there, Time Lady! Cover the re-materialize button!"

I jolt over to the opposite side of the console as he goes to work on the other. "You're going to burn up." I mutter.

"Well then, let's hope we're indoors! Allons-y!" We vanish into the Time vortex and re-appear where the distress call said to go.

"Do you know anything about what's going on?" I take his hand as we prepare to leave.

"Nope, so let's find out."

"Wait, how did you get the message anyways?"

"Psychic paper." He hands the piece of paper in the fold. The font is barely legible and all it reads is: "Help."

"Alright. Allons-y!" I smile.

He shakes his head, "No. That's my line."

I sigh, "Alright. I need a catch phrase though."

"Maybe you can find one while we're here." He grins, and we step out of the T.A.R.D.I.S. We travel together, checking for any immediate danger. "This can't be right." He looks at the psychic paper, and then back at our surrounding.

"Why not?"

"We're in a house! A normal, earth house!"

"Oh hello!" a calm, soothing voice greets us. "Are you the air conditioning, or the guys from the music store?"

The Doctor gives her a blank stare, "I'm the air conditioning, and she's the music." He holds up the psychic paper.

"Wonderful! Come this way, my husband, Ben will help you fix the A/C, and I'll assist with the piano!"

"Guardian, do you know how to play?" The Doctor whispers.

I grin, "One of my side studies at the academy!"

"Oh you are brilliant!"

"Now tell me you know something about A/C?"

"Not a thing." He beams, proudly.

"Oh great… Is that all I am now? Sarcastic?"

He shrugs, "I don't know. We'll have to see."

"Howdy, howdy!" A man in his late forties, maybe fifties welcomes us from the kitchen. I notice that this is a really nice house, with nice furniture.

"'Ello! I'm the Doctor, this is the Guardian!"

"Doctor of what?" Ben asks.

"Of….Air conditioning…."

The woman walks in, "And what are you the guardian of?"

"Good music." I smile as Ben takes the Doctor away and the woman leads me to a back room.

"The piano's kinda gone crazy."

"What do you mean?" I pull my Sonic Rod out of my pocket, click a button and it becomes full sized.

"Well, it sometimes plays by itself…"

I nod in amazement.

"I don't mind too much, except that it's terribly out of tune."

I give her an unbelieving glare. Her piano's playing by herself… and all she's worried is that it's out of tune? I open the hatch containing the insides of the instrument. "I'll tune it for you… and figure out why it's playing by itself."

"That would be great! I'm Tammy, by the way." She reaches to shake my hand.

"Yes, nice to meet you." I shake it distractedly.

"If you could get it done by tonight, that would be amazing!"

"Why tonight?"

"We're having a going away party for my son, Kendall."

"That's nice." I went to work, "Where is he going?"

She got a sadder tone, "New York."

"Tammy, could you come in here?" Ben calls from a hallway.

"Yes, one second," She turns to me, "I'll let you get to work." She leaves the room. I scan my rod across the metal strings to automatically tune each key.

"There," I close the hatch, "One tuned piano." I click my rod back in my pocket and play a few notes to test out the tuning.

"Oh tell me that's 'Requiem for a Dream' I'm hearing!" The Doctor pops in his head through a vent in the ceiling.

"Yes, sir!" I stop my fingers.

"You're a natural! Hey, have you found anything interesting yet?"

"Yeah. The piano plays by itself. You?"

"Yeah, there's a strange gas up here, the screwdriver hasn't figured it out yet, but it isn't deadly. Maybe the piano and this gas are related." He reports.

"Does the family know?"

"No. They shouldn't know. Not until we know exactly what's going on. Keep investigating!" He closes the vents and continues crawling around in the A/C units. I pull back out my Sonic Rod, scan for any other life forms, and it's blank.

After I come out empty handed, I walk out into the living room, where Tammy and some other woman, who liked her daughter, were cleaning up and preparing for the party.

"Hi, um, can I ask you a few questions about your piano? I hate to intrude." I ask politely.

"Sure, but can you follow me around? There's still a lot to do." She busies herself cleaning dishes and occasionally sweeping a strand of black hair out of her face.

"Of course. So, how long has your piano been doing that?"

"A couple of weeks."

"At what times, do you know?"

"Oh, they're all random."

"Do you know what it plays?"

"I'm not able to find anything like it, but it's beautiful."

"I bet." I mutter to myself.

"Mom?" The daughter walks in, "Have you seen Evi?"

"No, Jordan, I thought she was with you!" She gets worried.

Jordan looks around, then at me. "Have you seen a child, about this tall, brown hair, eyes? She's the only kid here; you wouldn't have been able to miss her if you saw her."

"Um, no. I haven't seen any children."

Jordan starts panicking and running around the house calling her child, "Evi! Evi where are you?"

I immediately sprint back to the piano room, searching for anything, any sign at all. As soon as panic filled Jordan's mind, it filled mine. The piano is fading in and out. The perception filter was going out. "There we go." I mutter and scan it with my rod. I have a straight pathway to a spaceship. The piano is actually a teleport. I brace myself to run in.

"Oh no you don't!" A voice I hadn't heard before announces from the door.

"What? Don't try and stop me!" I turn away, "Is that sass? So, I'm sarcastic and sassy, now, huh?"

"You aren't going in there without me." He runs up beside me. He's obviously one of the families outside, same dark hair, same dark skin and eyes.

"I really can't get rid of you, can I?"

"Nope. If Evi's in there, I'm going too."

I nod, "On three, you run straight into the piano. It's a teleport. Just grab Evi and leave." I command.

"And what about you?"

I grin, "Investigation!"

"That's not safe. We should call the cops." He warns.

I roll my eyes, "Oh come on, let's be rational. One… two… three!" We race into the piano and appear on a dark metal hallway. The guy I'm with looks around in awe.

"This is crazy…. I'm Kendall, by the way."

"The Guardian. Pleasure." I nod and scan the area for any signs of the child. "She's this way." I dash off to the left, and Kendall follows.

"How do you know?"

"It's confusing."

"Ah."

In the distance, we hear a groan, and a BANG as something hit the ground. I give him a worried look, and he gives me the same. We bolt off towards the sound, creeping around corners, and being especially quiet.

We peek around a corner to find a cluster of holding cells, like a prison.

"They might have your daughter locked up in one, mistaking her for a different species." I tell him.

He chuckle, "Oh no, she isn't my daughter, she's my niece!"

"Okay, sorry." I shrug, and look around, it's clear. "Search the jail cells, and tell me if you find anyone." We split off into different ways, scanning each cell carefully. In one of them, I find the little girl, playing with some toys, calling for her mommy. I unlock the cell and pick her up.

"Momma?" She asks.

"No, Evi. It's just me." I carry her out of the cell once I'm sure it's safe. She is the cutest child I've seen in a long while. She had big brown eyes, and long curly hair, and the most adorable babble! "Kendall?" I look around for the companion. Around a corridor, I find him being dragged away by some guards…. Wait, those aren't guards. Cyber men. They must've sneaked up on him. Wait, Cyber men?! They're back. How did they get back? The Doctor closed off the void years ago!

"Bubba?" Evi babbles.

"No, not right now. We have to find the Doctor…" I answer, afraid for both of our lives, now. I turn around and run the other way.

"You will be upgraded." A robotic voice says. I look around to make sure that none of them are following, and sprint to the nearest coverage I find. After a few more Cyber men pass, I escape again, and start to run down the next corridor. I check my back often, until I run into a mysterious figure.

"Oi! What are you doing on this ship?" I stand and face the person in the shadows; it obviously wasn't a Cyber man.

"Did someone call a Doctor?" He steps out with a grin. I hug him, with the child in my hands. He stares at her a bit confused, like he's comparing me to her, then he grips my arm tightly, "What did they do to you to make this happen?!" He's absolutely furious.

I almost fall over laughing, "She isn't mine! She's Jordan's! Her name is Evi. Kendall is still on board. You gotta go find him."

He sighs of relief, "Well, that's good. I'll get on it. Get her off of this ship."

"I'm on it." I grin, and sneak around the next corner.

"What are you doing with the child?" A robot grips my shoulder. The Doctor peers from around the edge, with worry spreading across his face.

"I'm her Guardian for the time being, so wherever she goes, I go." I demand.

The Cyber men lead us to a jail cell, the same one with the toys. They throw us in, and lock us up. I take a seat on the bench, and Evi goes to work playing with the toys provided. It's quiet, too quiet, but I talk anyways.

"Look at you…" I start, "So young, so full of life. You'll never have to live hundreds of years, like me… You are lucky, you human. You'll never know the pain of watching the ones you love die in what seems like an instant. You'll never know the curse of the Time Lords. You're especially lucky, Evi. You're beautiful. You'll grow up, meet an amazing man, marry him, and guess what," My voice drips sorrow, "You'll do something amazing with your life. I promise." She looks up at me and giggles, and melts my heart. "But you will have trials… you'll learn the meaning of heartache, and sadness, and in the strange abstract of the human life, you'll also learn the meaning of love, and happiness. You'll know how to stand on your own two feet, and grow up. This lifetime will travel so slowly for you, and you may feel like giving up, but that's never an option. Your whole life will be gone in a split second to me, but you'll never know it. Trust me; I know you won't waste it. You don't have the time I do." I smile and wipe a tear away from my eye.

A voice clears its throat. I whirl away to see a dead Cyber man. The emotion killed it. The Doctor scans it, then looks at me, with tears in his eyes, too.

"Let's go." The Doctor unlocks the cell, and reaches for my hand. I pick up Evi, and take it. Kendall runs up to us.

"I got the teleport back online. We're good to go back home." He nods.

"What about the Cyber men?" I ask.

"As soon as we leave, the teleport is closed off."

"Allons-y." The Doctor smiles when we start to walk toward the teleport.

* * *

Once back in the house, we're bombarded with questions and unneeded answers. The Doctor and I hand Kendall and the baby over and sneak back to the T.A.R.D.I.S.

"Hi, I'm Julie! How do you know Kendall?" A kind looking woman, with a herd of kids walks past up. "Aaron, not now, you can get a piece of candy inside." She turns to her kid, then back at us.

The Doctor leans down to the blonde boy and pulls out a sucker, "Here you go." He smiles. The boy thanks him, and runs ahead into the party.

"Oh, we just, well we-." I stutter over my words, trying to think of a way.

"We met in the grocery store, and kept running into each other." The Doctor shakes Julie's hand.

"Oh that's lovely. Kendall is my nephew."

"What a lucky kid." I smile. She looks at me odd.

"How old are you, then?" She laughs.

"Oh, it's not important." I wave it off.

She shrugs, "It was nice to meet you...?"

"I'm the Doctor, and this is the Guardian." He shakes her hand.

She raises a brow, "Alright then! Nice to meet you!" She walks on, along with 2 other boys, and her husband. Once they pass, we enter the garage, where the T.A.R.D.I.S is parked.

"We can't have that, can we?" He looks at a girl, about 15, sitting in a corner. "'Ello, what's your name then?"

She looks up, her hazel eyes staring into his brown ones, "Oh nothing. I'm just writing." She smiles, "Who are you?"

"I'm the Doctor, this is the Guardian."

She laughs a little, "Nice names. If we're making up names, I'll be the Wonder, but my real name is Hannah."

"The Wonder…" the Doctor thinks, "Why does that sound familiar?"

We both give him a shrug. In this girl's eyes, I see intelligence, a longing for something more.

"What do you do for a living?" I ask.

"Oh, I write. Um, and sing, and play piano, and let's see what else, play French horn, and trumpet, and-."

"Sounds like you're busy." The Doctor interrupts.

She shrugs, "It is what it is."

"Tell me, why aren't you in there with your family?"

She sighs, "Stuff."

"Go at least humor your cousin." I pat her arm.

"Alright. Gladly." She agrees, and walks inside. The Doctor and I start to board the T.A.R.D.I.S.

"What happens to you now?" Kendall says from inside the house.

"Same thing that always happens. We travel." The Doctor announces.

"Alone, just you two? Are you married or something?"

We look at each other, "Us, oh, um, not really, no." We both stumble over our words. Kendall rolls his eyes.

"Best of luck to both of you. I hope to see you two again. Whenever you get bored, call me up in New York?"

"You betchya." I smile.

"I have a feeling we'll be seeing you again soon." The Doctor thinks.

"You could come with us…" I offer. The Doctor gives me an evil look.

"Nah. I can't. I got New York waiting, and I gotta take care of these guys, y'know?"

We both nod.

"See you." The Doctor and I wave, as Kendall walks inside, with Evi in his arms, waving at us too.

I lean against the console, and sigh.

"That was quite a speech you gave back on the ship." He admits.

"Yeah. Well, I was only telling the truth."

"A Cyber man died by your very words."

"I just said what was on my mind…"

He leans in closer to me, "What was her name?"

"Who's?" I look away like I don't know who he's talking about.

He motions me closer with his finger, and whispers in my ear, "Your daughters."

I turn away quickly.

I was married once, to a Time Lord known as the Servant, only I knew his true name, and only he knew mine. We were completely and utterly in love, or so we thought. When the Time War started, I was going into labor, and had a baby girl. When I had finally come to, I found out that my husband was working on the Daleks side, giving them information, betraying us… and me. I had also found out that my daughter died a week after I had giving birth to her. I no longer cared whether I lived or died, so I joined the Time War, and eventually escaped the Time War with the Doctor and Master. When out of the Time Lock, I later found out that it was the Daleks who killed my daughter, not natural disease. It just so happened to be the squad my ex-husband was working with.

The Doctor looks at me, with sorrow in his soul.

"Gwendolyn. Her name was Gwendolyn." I avoid eye contact.

"That's a beautiful name."

"I held her… twice."

The Doctor wraps me up in his arms.

"No one will ever know the pain of a mother losing her child…"

"What was her name?"

"I don't know what you mean."

"Your daughter's." I say in the exact same tone he did.

He takes a deep breath, "Well, I suppose if no one else is going to know, it was Raya. She was a bit older than your Gwendolyn, when she died."

I run my hands over my face, "So that's who I am. Sarcastic, sassy, and sentimental."

He chuckles, "What will you do tonight?"

I shrug, "I dunno. Something productive, I assume."

"I'll check on you later tonight…" He clears his throat, "You know, just to make sure your regeneration is going as planned."

I nod, "Yeah sure."

"Goodnight, my Guardian."

"Goodnight, my Doctor." He kisses my forehead, and I start to walk back to my room. There had been an unspoken agreement between us, to never speak of the love we lost in the Time War. It was never to be shared under any circumstances, no one can explain why, in all of time and history.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Sometime during the night, I got incredibly bored with analyzing and editing old screen plays, so I went to walk around the T.A.R.D.I.S. I crept through the corridors and gave myself a tour. I went through the swimming pool, the closet, the kitchen, and other random rooms. After a while, I stumble across a Companion room. I walk in and look around. There are shelves and shelves of jumbled artifacts.

"What's all this?" I ask the Doctor, who appears at the doorway.

"Things from my former companions. Look," He picks up a jacket, "This was Rose's." He shows me a paper made T.A.R.D.I.S "This was Amelia Pond's."

"Why do you have this room? Don't you think this is a bit harsh on yourself?"

He shrugs, "Not really. Memoirs, mostly."

I nod, and start to make my way out of the Companion room.

"I guess you have already given yourself a tour?"

"Yes, sir." I grin, innocently.

He rolls his eyes. "What do you want to do?"

"I dunno. We should-." The T.A.R.D.I.S shakes and trembles. We fall to our knees as it moves and throws us around. "What's going on?!" I yell over the clatter.

"I don't know! We have to get to the control room!" He replies and leads the way to the control room, stopping every once and a while, just to be thrown back again. When we fianlly get to the control room, the T.A.R.D.I.S has landed.

We bolt out of the T.A.R.D.I.S, and on to a beach.

The Doctor yells, "No… no! No! No! No!"

"What's so bad about the beach?" I chuckle, then have a dangerously scary realization.

"Do you know where we are, Guardian?" He eyes me.

"Bad Wolf Bay…" Chills run down my spine when I answer. We are in a parallel world. We are not supposed to be here.

"How are we even here?!" The Doctor paces around, "How are we going to get back?"

"Calm down." I say, softer, "Let's just find Rose and the Meta-crises Doctor." I look around, and a jeep pulls up. "Or they will find us."

Rose Tyler runs out first and into the Doctor's arms. Steam should've risen off my head. I glare at the Doctor's unbelievingly happy grin as he embraces her. The Meta-crises and I stand side by side, probably thinking the same thing.

"'Ello. I'm the Guardian." I wipe away my jealousy, and shake the Meta-Doctor's hand.

"The Doctor." He nods, "Wait, did you say, Guardian?" He looks at me in amazement.

I nod, with a grin, "Yes! Last of the Time Ladies."

"This is absolutely amazing. I had no idea you even survived!"

"It's quite an interesting story, actually, but I suppose we should figure out why we're here, before we go into that." I offer.

"Of course. We'll explain that in a minute. Rose?" He calls to her.

"Yes?" She walks over to us with a smile, as well as the Prime Doctor.

"This is the Guardian. Last of the women of time." He introduces us.

She shakes my hand, "Rose Tyler."

"Nice to meet you, Rose. I've heard many things about you." Too many. I think to myself.

"Well, don't just stand there, come on!" The Meta-Doctor waves at us to get in his car. The Prime Doctor and I sit behind Rose and the Meta. On the dashboard is a family picture of Rose, the Meta-Doctor, and what I thought were their two kids.

"Are they yours?" I point to the children.

"Well, one of them is," Rose answers, "The other is Tony, my mum's."

The Prime Doctor beams, "Oh how is Jackie?"

"She's great! Same as ever, except with my dad." She smiles.

"Brilliant!" I can see the radiance of the Doctor. The Meta-Doctor starts filling us in on why we're here.

"The Weeping Angels have come to this universe, specifically this base we have in central America. We travel all over now."

"How? Only a universe with Time Lords should be able to have them." I ask.

"We have no idea. That's why we called you, well, that and the fact that they've taken over the city."

"Why haven't you stopped them?"

The Meta-crises laughs a little, "Our universe doesn't have cracks in its walls to send them back into."

Rose looks confused, "What do you mean?"

"The Doctor knows."

"Oh, I remember!" The Doctor and I say in unison. The 11th regeneration's companion, Amy Pond had a rift in her wall, containing pretty much all of the universe, caused by a mass explosion.

"Sounds like you two have been together a while, then." Rose notices.

We shrug and reply, "It's confusing."

The Meta-Doctor grins, "Oh, I know."

We drive for what feels like forever, the Meta-Doctor and Rose talking amongst themselves, the Doctor occasionally jumping into a conversation. I barely say anything though; it takes a while for my heated envy to cool.

"What's your problem?" The Doctor whispers to me.

"Nothing, dear." I reply sarcastically and look out my window. He gives me a puzzled look, and almost takes my hand, but shrugs instead.

Once we get to their house, they unload their things, and give us a tour of their nice two story house. Apparently, Rose and the Meta-Doctor both work at Torchwood, in the highest authority, that's how they were able to communicate with us. They show us where we'll be sleeping. Since Pete and Jackie still live with them, the Doctor and I have to share a room. I had next to no objections, other than the fact I was still a little mad at him, anyways, we probably wouldn't need sleep, we'd just talk, I bet.

"Daddy!" A little toddler, maybe two, runs into the Meta-Doctor's arms.

"'Ello, Jamie." He grins at the boy who is the perfect mix of Rose and him. The Prime Doctor looks at him in awe. This was the life he could've had with Rose.

"He's gorgeous." The Doctor comments. The Meta-Doctor pats his arm, sympathetically, as to say, "_Oh yeah, this is what you can't have_." I look at something random, to take my mind off of the regret I just saw in the Doctor's eyes. _Why don't I just leave him here?_ I think to myself.

"I-um, I'm going to go get fresh air." I announce.

"Jamie, go with your mummy." He puts the boy down. Rose was upstairs, taking care of her sick mum, while Pete was at work at Torchwood as well. "Mind if I join you?" The Meta-Doctor asks me.

"Sure." I smile. I take a quick glance to see the Doctor sitting at a table, deep in thought. We step outside into the cold wind. I sigh heavily. This is the trip I probably wanted the least.

"So, what's it like, traveling with me?" He asks.

I shrug, "It's different, us both being Time Lords."

"I bet… How is he? Rose and I worry about him."

I think, "He's alright. We've had some tough times, but we get through it."

"Yeah…" He nods, "Has he admitted it yet?"

"Admitted what?" I raise a brow.

He shakes his head, "Oh nothing."

"So um, how's Rose?"

"She misses him, sometimes." He scratches his head, "But now that we've grown a T.A.R.D.I.S ourselves, it gives her what she missed, the traveling."

I nod.

"You're jealous of Rose, aren't you?" He sneers with a grin.

"You're jealous of the Doctor aren't you?" I sneer in the same way, and both of our smiles fade.

"Yeah…" We reply in unison. We walk along the road.

"Are you two married?" I ask.

"Yes! It was such a grand wedding." He smiles, remembering the day.

I can't help but grin, "Oh, I can't even imagine. So, about the Weeping Angels…" I start.

The Doctor has a light bulb moment, "Oh yeah! We need to get back! They could've taken over the house by now."

We sprint back to the house, but by then it's too late. We creep through the house, the Doctor is gone, Rose is gone, Jamie is gone, and so is Jackie. No trace of Weeping Angels either. We look for any sign, anything.

"Come along, Guardian. I know where they went." We jump in his jeep. I pull out my Sonic Rod and scan towards the Angels. We barely talk on the way; we're both too afraid to.

"Nothing happened to them, Doctor. Don't worry. The Doctor will take care of Rose and your family at all costs." I assure.

"I know… Rose and my family will take care of your Doctor at all costs." He reassures with a smirk.

"Good." We finally arrive at an abandoned warehouse. "This doesn't look good." I murmur as we sneak into the driveway, and creep to the door.

"Don't blink." He whispers.

"Gotchya." I grip my Sonic Rod, and walk into the warehouse. We gasp and step back. Angels fill the warehouse to the brim. We gaze at the Angels as we go up the stairs leading to the holding cells. We stare at the mob as we try to figure out which cell is holding our loved ones.

"So, any ideas?" He asks.

"Don't blink, I'm looking around." I search the area, for anything, anything at all that could kill these Angels. "Go find Rose and the others. Get them out of here, shout when you do." I command. The Meta-Doctor nods and runs through the holding cells, releasing all of the captives.

"Houston, we have a problem." Rose yells to me.

"What?" I continue to glare at the mob.

"The Prime Doctor is unconscious and so is my mum."

I curse under my breath, "Bring the Doctor to me." The tears fill my eyes from not blinking.

"Doctor!" I yell.

"Yes?" The Meta-Doctor runs out of a holding cell.

"I need you to stare at the Angels while I blink for a couple of seconds."

"Alright. You can blink."

I bat my eyes as water flows from them. Pain fills my eyelids as the tears drip.

"You're good. You can blink."

"Thanks. I'm getting them out of here." The Doctor says, carrying Jackie, with Rose and Jamie following close behind. Rose drops off the Doctor beside me.

"I promise, we will be back to get him and you." She runs out with the toddler in her arms. I gaze at the Angels, blinking each eye on at a time. A couple of minutes later, the Meta-Doctor runs in.

"We can leave now." We each grab a side of the Doctor and carry him down the stairs, not looking away.

"Are these all of the Angels in this world?" I ask when we got to the door.

The Meta-crises Doctor scans the area with his screwdriver. "Yeah."

"Then get him out of here, take him home with you, but make sure he tries to keep the T.A.R.D.I.S here… and when he leaves tell him that I… that I…" I stumble over my words. "Stare at the Angels." I ask.

"Sure." He gazes, and I lean down and whisper something in the Doctor's ear. Whether it was a promise, or instruction, or a simple sentence, I can never remember.

The Meta-Doctor grins and wraps me up in a hug, with me, now staring at the Angels.

"He does too. I promise."

I nod, as the Meta-Doctor takes the other Doctor away from me. I hold on to his hand until he's out of my reach, and then I sprint into a deep, sheltered corner of the warehouse and shine my Rod at the warehouse roof. The nails and screws holding it together unlock, and the roof comes caving in. I stare at the Angels until I hear every single one of them break. I duck my head as the stair case comes crashing down around me.

* * *

I wake up, inhale the dust, and immediately cough it out. I did it. I destroyed the Angels, but in doing that, I'm trapped in the Prime universe. The Doctor is in the other one, trying to get home. He doesn't know, but it takes years to build something so powerful to break the paradox he and the Angels created. It shouldn't take him too long, though, he is the Doctor, but until then, I'm the only hope this universe has left.

I walk out of the warehouse and into the light.

"You saved us!" An old man greets me.

"Yeah… I did…" My smile doesn't mask my sorrow.

"How is he, the Doctor?" He asks.

"He's perfectly fine. I made sure of it."

"What's your name then? I'm Wilfred." He holds out his hand.

I shake it gently, "The Guardian. I have to be gone now. I shouldn't be here. I need to find the Doctor… Oh wait…"

"You don't have any way of getting back to him… Do you?"

I shake my head.

"Come on then, stay with us a while, he'll come around. He always does." Wilfred leads me to the home of the older Nobles. Donna and her husband leave just across the street, but they claim it still feels lonely.

I feel lonely too. It's weird without the Doctor by my side. It's uncomfortable being alone, with no friends, not one hand to hold. My sorrow spills out in my drawings and writings. I imagine him, drawing away in the T.A.R.D.I.S. Whenever I sleep, I dream of the Doctor frantically working to get back to me, so I do what I can to help him. I use my Sonic Rod to send him a signal, every day. I occasionally run up to Torchwood to see if they've found any sign of him. I even lean my head on the wall that connects the dimensions; maybe, just maybe I can hear his voice. I know what it feels like to be Rose Tyler, screaming, and beating on the wall.

_"Take me back!"_


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

It never occurred to me how much pain I'd feel when Torchwood would say they haven't seen him, it was an even more of a bummer when I couldn't even get a reading of him from my Rod. Every day, my heart saddens more and more, but at least I have company. Wilfred, mostly, keeps me company with his tales of outer space and constellations. In exchange for his tales, I tell him true stories about things that have happened with me, the Doctor, and the T.A.R.D.I.S. We're the ones left here, with no friction to go off of, when waiting for the Doctor. At night times, we'll go out onto the hill and gaze at the stars waiting for the Doctor to return.

"Do you love him?" He asks one night.

"Who?"

"You know good and well who."

"Well, I suppose… yeah, I do."

"Good. He's a good man. He needs someone's hand to hold, like yours. How old are you, anyways?"

"I'm-well, let's see… 1,200 now."

"That's old." He comments.

I laugh, "Yeah, but the Doctor is older."

"It's hard to imagine from time to time, that he's older than most, even me."

"Yeah, but you can tell from his eyes."

"He does have old eyes. Well, I need my beauty sleep." He laughs. "Night, Guardian." He announces and walks back to the house. I stay up for a few more hours, waiting for the Doctor.

The months pass, and so do the seasons. I spend Christmas and every other holiday with the Nobles, all of them. Donna and her husband always show up too. Each time, Donna tries to get me with a new boyfriend, but I always have to explain that I'm not looking for relationships. Her mother would always sigh at that, and then Wilfred would come to my rescue. I get used to acting like I'm a happy, normal human, when inside, I had both hearts torn in two. I lived off the promise, "Oh, he does too."

I spent 3 years on Earth with no sign.

The first year, I traveled the Earth, looking for danger and cleaning up the messes that the Doctor wasn't able to. I ran into a few aliens, but mostly abandoned things, like Dalek ships, or even the occasional Santaron ones. A year after I started my tread, I returned home.

The second year, I tried to forget him completely. I got a job as a musician; I went along like a normal college student, minus the illegal things. My ordinary life only brought the longing for the Doctor greater and stronger, and my forgetting process completely failed.

The third year, nothing happened. I quit my job, went home and researched everything I could about links and parallel worlds. I was a Time Lord, I knew enough, but not enough to bring him back. It was raining when I finally figured out what I needed to do. I ran to the designated forest, and I hopped to it, putting the rocks in the right place around a puddle that the rain was creating, along with the odd alien-looking "fire pit" that I managed to stumble across in a Cyber men ship. It had strange writings and designs that even I couldn't describe, so I used it as a link. The rain continued to pour as I stepped outside the rocks, waiting for the time, where the rain wasn't so intense that the image in the puddle was distorted, but not completely stopped; the perfect rain.

* * *

I point my Rod at the alien fire pit and an image of the Doctor stood in the puddle.

"What is this? Why am I wet? Oh-!" He turns to face me.

"Hello."

He looks at me in awe, "How were you able to do this?"

"Well, I combined my Time Lord knowledge with some modern science, simply really." I shrug and grab a stick off the ground.

"How?"

"I, um, set up this image using the water, these rocks, and that alien thing over there; I'm not able to figure it out yet, though." I don't smile, and neither does he.

"Genius! I'm impressed. How does it cut off?"

"When the rain stops, the image will be gone forever, but if I distort it, I can bring it back later in time, hence the stick. This is the only place from this Earth I'm able to communicate."

"Brilliant. I always had faith in you."

I nod, "So um, what will you do now?" The rain falls on my hair, and his.

"Wait, how am I able to feel the rain too?"

I smirk, "I'm just that good. I strengthened the link a lot more than you have before."

He grins, then frowns, "But, back to your question, I'm really trying to find a way back to you… and the universe, I promise."

"I know you are."

"How are things there?"

"They're um, they're okay. I'm taking care of things, you know. Filling in for you, like a Doctor's nurse…"

"Or a Doctor's Guardian…" He stares at me.

"Yeah. That too."

"Something's changed in you…" He notices. "What's happened?"

"Nothing. Nothing at all." It wasn't a lie. He nods, the sorrow practically spreading across his face.

"Come on, you can't miss me too much." He tries to make me smile.

I look down, "But I do."

"I'm not sure if I can ever make it back."

"So, um, I'm guessing I can never see you again, if this doesn't work…" I become poker faced, for both our sakes.

He shakes his head, "No…"

I nod, "Um, what should I do now?"

"What you've been doing, the universe you're in needs a Guardian."

"What are you doing, where are you?" I jump off the topic.

"I'm in the T.A.R.D.I.S… trying to- trying to get back, but it isn't really working." He slightly smiles, with worry in it.

"Keep trying. I've saved your life, you've saved mine, and then I saved you again. My debt is repaid but yours is not. You owe me. It's time for you to come back, Doctor. I need-."

The rain completely stops and the image of the Doctor fades. The last thing to go is his eyes, dripping a tear. I stare at the place he once was. I drop my stick, in disbelief as the rain begins to pour harder than it ever had. I look around the forest, no sign of him anymore. No sign of him ever again.

* * *

I wake up in my bed, in Donna's old room. I looked around the walls, with the posters of the stars I hung up a few years back. I drew everything from our adventures on the spare white wallpapers, to remind me of what I lost. I plop back down. What would happen now? Would I just regenerate for the rest of this curse, or could I just die when told to?

"They found him!" Wilfred runs in my room with wine, and biscuits. I know it's important.

I jump out of bed, spilling the wine all over the floor. "Where!?" I stumble over to him.

"Torchwood says that he's heading over to around here. I'm not sure where though." He informs. It's been three and a half years since I left the Doctor in the Parallel universe, and I'm finally getting him back.

I sprint to my closet, change in some clothes that I can run fast in, and sprint out of the door. In the sky, I see the blue police box flying over the house. I wave my Rod frantically, hoping that he'll see me, but in a few seconds, the T.A.R.D.I.S passes by.

"Oh no you're not!" I yell and sprint as fast as I can after the T.A.R.D.I.S.

It's like I forgot everything except getting to the Doctor. Nothing else mattered in the world. I was going to do everything in my power to get to him. I didn't even notice how much pain my legs were in, I ran like I had no more life left. I chased after the blue box like my life depended on it, and as far as I was concerned, it was. I keep up with the T.A.R.D.I.S for a while, zooming through the streets, dodging cars, and civilians. As my hope fades, so does my speed. I yell after him to wait, but the T.A.R.D.I.S never listens, so I chase, but it gets farther and farther away.

After 30 minutes of straight sprinting, the T.A.R.D.I.S lands in the Torchwood base. I sprint up the stairs on the roof, where the T.A.R.D.I.S was being parked.

I didn't notice how much my hearts beat had risen.

"Whoa." I lean against the door way. I can't breathe. "Well…. This is new." I don't care how much pain my lungs are in, or my feet.

I take out my key to the T.A.R.D.I.S and fumble around to open the door. I expect to see the Doctor's bright face, but that's not what I get. I get the voice interface.

"This is the T.A.R.D.I.S voice interface." The Doctor's body appears. I trip and fall from the sprint.

"What?!" I demand, "What's wrong with the Doctor?"

"The Doctor is trapped in the other universe. He needs you to control the T.A.R.D.I.S."

"How do I do that?"

"He says you will know." The voice interface disappears.

"Great." I scratch my head, just like the Doctor used to. I lean against the console and try to desperately figure out what I need to do. A knock comes at the door. I open it to see Wilfred.

"You could've just driven, you sweaty mess."

I laugh, "I know. The Doctor isn't here, but come in."

"Where is he?"

"Trapped in the other universe still. The voice interface said I needed to control the T.A.R.D.I.S… what do you think that means?"

He thinks, "I have no idea. If he's trapped, maybe he needs you to stay in this world, and take care of it, like he used to."

I sigh, hoping that's not the case.

"I don't know. It's your adventure to figure it out. That's what you've waited for, isn't it? This grand adventure with the Doctor?"

"Well, yeah."

"Then go! This world, and all the others need the Doctor, it's time you stepped up, Time Lord." He says, and walks out.

I sigh, and roll my neck. I walk to the console and start up the T.A.R.D.I.S.

"Hey, ol' girl. Miss me?" I pat the walls, and steer the T.A.R.D.I.S away from Earth. I stop in a random place in space, and think, "What would the Doctor do?" I answer myself, "Well, the Doctor would be the Doctor and save the universe." I sigh as my sorrow grows, and guide the T.A.R.D.I.S back to a random point in time, maybe if I could just see his face, maybe then I can think.

I step out into the snow. It's cold, like my tears. I stroll around and recognize the place. It's January 1st, 2005.

"Oh no. I am NOT watching him regenerate. No thank you!" I announce and walk back to the T.A.R.D.I.S. I turn when I hear a cry of pain. "Ughhh." I groan, hide behind a building, and watch the 10th Doctor stumble through the snow. "Oi! Are you alright?!" I call through the blizzard. He doesn't hear me, and he continues his T.A.R.D.I.S.

"I need to go…" I mutter and run back to my T.A.R.D.I.S. when I get indoors, I bang on the walls, "Why did you do that to me?!" I cry.

* * *

I pace over to the controls and direct to another point in time.

"For one shining moment, she was the most important woman in the universe…" The Doctor tells Wilfred, and his daughter.

I jump back into the T.A.R.D.I.S, refusing to watch that go down, and steer it into another point in time, "This isn't funny, anymore."

* * *

I step out to find myself in a Torchwood Base. I put my hands on my face as I hear the Doctor's scream of anguish as Rose Tyler was taken to the parallel universe, the universe that the Doctor is in now. He walks up to the wall and places his ear to it, hoping to hear her.

"She can't hear you." I inform.

"I know." He says once he's back, sorrow filling his soul.

I look away, "I'm sorry."

He nods and walks away. I reach for his hand, then drop it when he turns to me, "What is your name?"

"Carol Bennett." I reply.

He nods again, a tear escaping his eye, and leaves.

I trudge back to the T.A.R.D.I.S, until I hear the Doctor running back. I meet him halfway, to keep him from seeing the T.A.R.D.I.S.

"Carol Bennett…" He thinks, "Why does that sound so familiar?"

I shrug, holding back my tears, which he obviously wasn't. "I'll see you again."

"How do you know?" He looks confused.

I smile, "Trust me, I'm a Doctor. I'll see you." I wave and walk back into the T.A.R.D.I.S and disappear as soon as I could.

* * *

"Why are you doing this to me?!" I scream.

The voice interface appears, "He said that you would understand."

"Go away!" I demand.

"That's no way to treat a voice interface, is it?!" The Doctor's voice comes from the interface.

"Doctor?" I walk up to it.

The image shakes its head, "Just the Meta-Doctor. Listen, I haven't got much time. The Doctor is off at Torchwood, trying to get back to you. Just hold out on the old bloke, eh? He's trying to-!" He tells and the interface disappears.

I look down. "Alright, alright. Where do you want me to go? I give up." I turn on the T.A.R.D.I.S, and let it go its own way.

It shakes and grumbles, then lands, "Where did you take me?" I step out onto some beautiful plain. "Well, this doesn't look like a place of trouble…" I scan for any sign.

"Help us!" A woman runs up to me, screaming.

"What? What is it?" I panic.

She takes my hand and leads me to the edge of the plain; a huge drop off into an ocean, or something like it.

"What happened?"

"My boy! He fell in!"

I immediately dive into the rocky, freezing water, big mistake. The shock of the cold hits me first, then the rocky bottom. I gasp for air, then dive back down to the search for the boy at the bottom of this bay. I find him reaching up for air; I grab his hand, and carry him to the shore.

"My sister!" He coughs, "My sister is in there too!" He looks at me, with the same expression as the Doctor.

"I'll get her." I dive back down, thinking about nothing but the Doctor. I take the girls hand, and realize I have no more air in my lungs. I throw her up as far as I can, and sink to the bottom. I push off, catch the girl and deliver her to the shore.

"Beware of the undercurrents!" The boy yells, but it's too late. I'm taken under the water, and sped out to sea.

I open my eyes in the murky liquid. I can't tell which way is up, or which way is down… I'm drowning. I come to peace with this death and look into the blue. In the distance, I thought I saw the outline of a person. I hope it's the Doctor. I stretch out my hand as the man takes it and tosses me up on his ship.

"What were you doing out there?!" He demands.

"Doctor?" I sit up and rub my eyes.

"Do you need a Doctor?"

I nod.

"We'll bring you one soon…" The kind man kneels down to my height, sitting on the ground, "I'm James."

"'Ello, James!"

"Sh!" He puts a finger on my mouth.

"What is it?"

"The beast under the water, she's moving."

I almost laugh, "Oh come on…"

"She's rising!" A huge sea serpent rises from the water. It looks like a long snake. Oh, so _that's _why that woman wanted me to save her children; she was too afraid to.

I stand and face the beast. "Alright, what are you up to?" I ask. It replies, and the T.A.R.D.I.S translates it for me.

"I need food!"

"Well don't come here! There are plenty of fish in the sea!"

"But I need these humans." It says in a slithery voice.

"Well I need them too! So leave!" I point my rod at it.

It slides back into the water, "I'll be back."

"If you do it will be me you answer to, Muncath!" I announce, "I am the last of the Time Lords, and I will have my revenge. Whether it comes out on you or not, it will be known that the Guardian is defending the universe at last. Is that clear?!"

I get no answer.

"Excuse me? I suggest you answer me!"

"I will spread the word." It agrees and swims away.

I turn back to the star struck crew. "Now, I have a place I need to get back to. Mind if I drive?" The crew nods, and I take the wheel.

It takes till sunset to get to the shore. I hop off and say goodbye to the crew I bonded with the past 2 hours.

"Where are you going to go?" James flicks a strand of black hair out of his light blue eyes. "Because… maybe I can come see you again."

I shrug, "I dunno, travel, like always."

"By yourself?"

"I think its better that way." I nod.

"Goodbye, then…" He reaches to shake my hand.

"Oh alright, you can come." He takes my hand and we walk back to the T.A.R.D.I.S. "Beware. You'll be a bit shocked." I announce, and lead him inside.

"It's bigger on the inside!" He looks in amazement.

I grin, "Welcome to the T.A.R.D.I.S! Time and space machine! We can go anywhere in time and space that you want to! Oh! I have an idea!" I control the T.A.R.D.I.S as he stares around in awe.

"Behold, the greatest place on the Earth." I show him into outer space.

"What am I looking at?"

"That," I point to what looks like supernova, "That's where Gallifrey was."

"Gallifrey?" He asks.

I nod, "It's my homes planet."

"So you aren't human?"

"Nope!"

"Sweet!" He grins from ear to ear.

"You're okay with that?"

"Of course I'm okay with that! This is the coolest thing that's happened to me!"

I smile warmly, "I'm glad."

He stares at me.

"What?"

"Your smile, it's weird."

I chuckle, "Oh thanks."

"Not like that, but it looks sad, or something."

I shrug, "You're tired James."

He laughs, "Aren't I always?"

"I know what feeling."

"Doesn't every one?"

I nod, "I suppose."

"The time is coming." He says in a different voice.

"What?"

He shakes his head, "I didn't say anything."

"Go to bed, James. We have a busy day coming tomorrow." I smile, "Your room is three hallways down, to the left, then it's on the left."

"Okay… Thank you, Guardian." He hugs me and runs off to his room.

"Don't thank me just yet…" I sigh and man the controls.

* * *

"We're here." I step out and take his hand.

"Wow." He looks around. James is quiet, that's why I like him. He doesn't ask questions, doesn't bug, simply accepts.

"Grand, isn't it?"

"Yeah. Are we going to the theatre?"

I laugh, "Where else?"

"This is something I've been curious for my whole life… and now I get to see it. Thank you."

I nod, "You're welcome."

"Guardian, what are you, exactly?"

I sigh, "I'm the Last of the Time Lords…"

"The very last?"

"Yeah. I'm the one left, my uh. My companion, the Doctor, he uh, left…"

"I'm sorry…."

"Yeah… we were together." I explain.

He looks at me, "I promise, I will never leave you."

"Come on, let's get a seat." I order two tickets and we walk in and take a seat, right below Lincoln. I clear my head from the words I just heard; that's exactly what the Doctor said.

"The president is right above me!" He grins.

"Yeah!" The shows starts and I prepare my ears for the bullet sounding. A little throughout the show, the bang of thunder fills my ears, "Time to leave, James!" I take his hand, "Run!" We jolt out of the theatre and run down some streets, and we stop. The sounds of bullets firing fill the air.

"You're amazing, Guardian! I never doubted you for a second!" He stops me. I resist; my hearts were still broken over the Doctor, "What's wrong?"

"There's just more things that um, you don't know…" I tell him. "The rest of the assassinating crew is on its way!" I take his hand and we run again. While we're halfway down the street, he falls.

"James! Come on!" I pick him up.

"Nah. Go on without me." He leans against the ground, "What happened?" I drop to him. He reveals a gunshot wound.

"No… No…" I cry. "Not another."

"Guardian… I…" He touches my face, and dies.

I run back to the T.A.R.D.I.S without looking back. I let the machine take me where it wants... His death was my fault. Every single moment of it. I fall on the ground as the T.A.R.D.I.S lands.

* * *

I step out and into the snow. "Again the regeneration?"

"You are not at the same place you were, Guardian." An Ood appears.

"What, you've come to claim my death too?"

"I came to give you word from the elders…"

I walk up to it, "What is it?"

"The universe has big plans for you, even without the Doctor…" He starts.

"What is that supposed to mean? Tell me, will I ever find him again?"

He shakes his head, "It is not destined to happen. I am sorry for your loss."

I nod, "Please continue."

"The universe will cry for you, as it has before for the Doctor, a long time ago."

"But, isn't that a bit cliché?" I raise a brow.

The Ood shakes his head, "Not everyone gets a song. You have saved the Doctor; the oncoming storm. That deserves some credit."

"I suppose…" I think.

"The song for you is different than the Doctor's, it has to be; you two are different."

"Yet the same." I sigh. "Why is this happening to me? This is exactly what happened to the Doctor and Rose Tyler."

"That is yet to be revealed. It will be shown to you when your song ends…"

I roll my eyes, "What if I can't wait that long?"

The Ood passes out in the snow.

"Whoa!" I kneel beside it and carry it into my T.A.R.D.I.S. It shortly comes to, looking around the T.A.R.D.I.S, confused.

"Where am I?" It asks.

"You're in the T.A.R.D.I.S." I inform, "I'm taking you home; it's faster." I grin and arrive at his home planet, also snowy.

"Forgive me," He apologizes once we step out into the Ood's base.

"Not a problem." I shake my head.

"Look at you, Guardian." He lifts my chin.

"What?" I ask a bit creeped out that an Ood was touching me.

He searches my face, then replies, "So sad, so willing to die. What's happened to you?"

I turn away, "Everything is gone."

"Oh, don't say that! You have the T.A.R.D.I.S!"

I frown, "You sound just like the Doctor."

"Come on, Guardian. I'll see you again." The Ood lets me go.

"Yeah. Sure thing."

"Don't forget, if ever you need me. Look in here." The Ood touches the place where my two hearts are. Then, he turns and leaves.

"Doctor?!" I look up. The Ood doesn't have its circular communicating device. How was it talking without an outer force controlling it? My only answer; the Doctor was there.

"That was just cruel." I murmur as I step into the T.A.R.D.I.S, and the voice interface comes back on.

"Will you please explain to me what happened there, Doctor?" I glare at it.

"I am not the Doctor, I am a voice interface." It says in his monotone voice.

I roll my eyes, "Some help you are!" I shut it off, hoping to get a scolding from the Meta-Doctor, but I have no such luck.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

I sit at the edge of the T.A.R.D.I.S and stare into a supernova. If I was the Bad Wolf herself, I could just look into the Time Vortex, and bring him back, but I can't. Not if I don't want to regenerate, which I don't. I let the T.A.R.D.I.S take me wherever she pleases, now. I think about the Doctor, and James at the same time, and my brain overloads with guilt.

"Nope." I refuse and step out of the T.A.R.D.I.S and into a muddy ditch, "Will I ever get a fair game?!" I scream at the T.A.R.D.I.S, who grumbles in returns.

"Oi! What are you doing down there?" A voice calls.

"Um, a little help?" The rain starts to pour again. "Really?!" I shout at the sky.

"We'll get you out!" A woman and a man throw me a rope. I catch it and they pull me onto the dirt road.

"'Ello then, I'm Ellie. And this is my brother, Ryan."

I nod, "Hello, I'm the Guardian, thanks for your help."

"Now, what are you doing here?" They both aim their guns at me.

I throw up my hands in innocence, "Alright then! Off we go to my holding cell."

They lead me down to a prison, chain my hands and feet to a wall and interrogate me.

"What are you doing here?"

"I honestly have no clue."

"We'll shoot."

"Go ahead. I'll just regenerate."

"Doctor? Is it really you, Time Lord Victorious?" Ellie, the blonde girl puts down her gun.

I grin, "Something like him."

"We're very familiar with him! He's saved us before."

"Are you Jenny?" They looked vaguely alike, and she knows the Doctor.

"Jenny?" She shakes her head, "No, but I bet she's great, if she's with the Doctor!"

"She's um, the Doctor's daughter. Why on Earth would the T.A.R.D.I.S fly me here, "It looks like a normal military base to me?" They let me free to look around the place.

"Well, it isn't! The Doctor inspired us!" Ryan grins. He's almost identical to his sister.

"Show me!" I clap my hands; maybe this is the way back to the Doctor! They lead me around to a huge lab, where flesh was being created.

My eyes widen; this is not good… What happened to the Gangers a few years back must never happen again.

"What are you doing?"

"Creating clones! Not Gangers; clones. Don't worry, they're built without emotion."

One steps out and takes in a deep breath. They're Gangers.

"Don't be stupid!" I yell, "This is exactly how the Gangers were before the solar flare! All you need is one Solar flare, Ellie, and you'll have a massive commotion. Destroy these! Now!" I command.

"And whose authority are you under?"

"I'm the Last of the bloody Time Lords! Do what I say!"

"But they're perfectly functional!"

"Fine, I'll take them to a different world, where they can live in harmony, by themselves!" I unleash the clones, but they don't move. "What's the matter? Don't you want freedom?"

All of the clones shake their hands.

"I don't understand…"

"See, we have them under control here!" Ellie smirks, switches to Ganger form, then turns back

"Good for you." I nod.

"Guardian?" I hear a familiar voice.

I turn to see the 11th regeneration of the Doctor.

"I'm not supposed to be here. Are you the flesh?" I ask.

He nods, "Yes. I won't tell him. Why are you here?"

I shrug, "I dunno. I came to warn you I guess. The flesh and the others will revolt against each other! Warn the other version!"

"Oh no." He laughs, "That was a long time ago. This is a new planet. Just for the Gangers. He made our lives better."

"But then, you didn't live?" I gaze at him in awe.

"Oh, I sort of regenerated, but no one else lived."

"So you promise everything is okay here?"

He grins, "Of course! Where is the Doctor?"

I look down, "He's um, he's not here…"

"Is he dead?"

"No. He's just trapped in a parallel universe… with Rose and the Meta-Doctor, but um. I'm filling in for him until he gets back." I smile.

"Well, I don't know what to say to that, but I'll let you get back to it. I'll see what I can do from here. I'll try to open a portal."

"Would you like a clone?" Ellie asks.

I shrug, "Oh, I dunno." They lead me onto a straight jacket and strap me down to a table. "This is new. I didn't know this was how you made clones…" I look around, the Doctor flesh is in the same thing I am.

"This isn't, we're captured."

I look around with a nod, "Told you they'd revolt, even against you!"

"You see," a Ganger walks in that I didn't recognize, "We've searched your memories, Guardian." She steps aside to reveal everyone I care about, in Ganger form.

The Doctor walks up first, then James, then Wilfred, then the Meta-Doctor, Rose Tyler, Martha Jones, Donna Noble, the Master, and lastly the Servant. The Servant walks up to me and fixes his beautiful blonde hair.

"I'm back." He grins, "You know that everything I did was to save you…" He pushes a strand of hair out of my face. I look to the Doctor, who wears a hurt expression. Then, look back to my ex-husband.

"Oh, so it's him now?" He points to the Doctor.

"I-."

"No, I get it! I just died for you and Gwendolyn! Where is she anyways!? What did you do with her?" His blue eyes become dark with anger.

"I'm right here, dad." A young girl, maybe 10, walks up with beautiful light brown hair and violet eyes, like mine.

I stare at my daughter.

"She isn't your daughter," The Ganger Doctor warns me, "She from your memories. You know she's dead."

"Mom?" She runs up to me, "Mom! I've missed you so much!" She laughs, in joy.

"It's me, it's me. I'm here." I smile.

The Servant takes her back, "You can't have her! No! Not while you're having an affair!"

"She's my child!"

"No she's not!" The Ganger Doctor yells.

"It's your choice! It's Gwendolyn or the Doctor!" The rest of the Gangers pick their sides.

"You know what to do!" The Ganger Doctor shouts.

Donna and the rest of the Doctor's companions stand with the Doctor. Gwendolyn, the Master, James and the Servant stand on the other.

"Mom?" The words escape Gwendolyn's soft lips.

"Guardian…" My name leaves the Doctor's handsome face.

"Come on!" The Ganger Doctor groans, "You know the right choice!"

"I…. I choose…. the... The…" I stumble over my words, "I choose the Doctor!" I cry out from my straight jacket.

"Yes." The Ganger Doctor sighs of relief

The Servant hits me in the face with his fist, "I died for you! I gave you your only child! And yet, you choose him?! What has he ever done for you?!" He shouts and hits the Doctor.

"Hey!" I yell and struggle against the jacket, "Don't hurt him!" I don't cry, even though the punch I took causes so much pain.

"Mom!" My child screams, runs up to me, and starts to untie me. As soon as I'm free, I unlock the Ganger Doctor who runs over to the Servant and blows him up using his sonic screwdriver.

"I'm glad you still have one." I say, as I hug my child. The Doctor runs to me, with a bruised side.

"I'm so sorry…" I stand.

"No, it's okay. Why did you do that? You should've picked your husband…" He tells me.

The Ganger Doctor groans, "You know that was the right choice, Doctor."

The Doctor examines the Ganger, "So that's what I used to look like…hmm."

Gwendolyn switches to her Ganger form, then changes back quickly.

"You should leave, Guardian." The Ganger Doctor tells me.

"Where will I go?"

"Do everything in your power to be the Doctor for the universe. I'll take care of it here." He smiles.

"Gwendolyn…"

She starts to cry, "Why are you going to leave me again?"

"I have to go. I have to. The Doctor here will take care of you." I turn, but the Ganger Doctor has already made everyone explode into the raw flesh.

"They were born out of evil. I'm sorry." He explains

"I have to go…" I stand, and face away from my crying daughter.

"Run." The Ganger Doctor whispers. I do as he says. I sprint as hard and as fast as I can to the T.A.R.D.I.S. I run inside and fly away before I can hear the explosion of raw flesh.

That's all I ever do. I run. I've been running all my life, just like the Doctor. When will I ever stop?


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

I wonder around the T.A.R.D.I.S, sneaking into rooms the Doctor never wanted me to, includes his bedroom. The painting of me is being completed, literally, as we speak, the purple paint smears onto the wall. The streaks are imperfect, so I know it's not the machine.

"Doctor?" I call and the painting stops, "Doctor, are you there?" I put my ear to the wall, smearing paint all in my hair. I step away and watch the colors appear vigorously, as if he's mad I messed it up. It's defiantly the Doctor. I smile and try to stick my hand through the tiny gap, no such luck. I walk back into the control room, happy that he's thinking of me, and steer the T.A.R.D.I.S away.

I drive into random points in time, making sure that every correct happened to the Doctor. I checked on Rose Tyler, and Donna, and Martha, and even Amelia Pond, making sure that they were okay. I complete my work, and go back to a familiar place.

Wilfred bangs on the door, "Guardian!"

I run out, tears dried, with my key, "What?"

"Look!" He pulls me all the way out to show me a spaceship, right above us, but in space. "Who are they?"

I glare at the spaceship, "The Daleks." I run back into the T.A.R.D.I.S, then call out to Wilfred, "Are you coming, or not?"

He shakes his head, "Someone's gotta keep calm down here."

I nod, "Go get them." The doors close and I zoom into the Dalek ship.

"You will surrender, Doctor!" A Dalek commands. I click my Sonic Rod in my jeans pocket and step out.

"Doctor who?" I ask, innocently.

"You know who, Guardian!"

"No, not really. There is no Doctor, not in this universe!"

"Then we will travel to the next, after we've exterminated you." Four more Daleks show up.

"No, don't think so, because you see, the Weeping Angels managed to get through, but you can't because I closed it off again!" I smirk.

"Why would you do that?"

I walk around the scavenger Daleks, "Well, I couldn't have you destroying that universe too, could I?" I take out my Rod twirl it in my hand as I talk.

"Why did you trap the Doctor in that world?"

I get a grave expression, "Because there was a paradox created. If he had escaped with me, it would've blown up that world, and I couldn't have that."

"But you'll never get to see him again!" The Dalek says, very irate.

I answer coolly, "I know."

"That doesn't make sense. Explain, EXPLAIN!"

"You see, I care about the Doctor so much that I trapped him in that world so he could live. I couldn't let the paradox kill him. You should consider it a favor, Daleks. The Doctor isn't here to destroy you."

"We will just have to exterminate you, then."

"Uh, no." I point my Sonic Rod at its controls and now I have full control over all the Dalek weapons on board. "I'll make you a deal, Daleks." I announce on the intercom, "Because I'm just that nice."

"Proceed."

"Proceed? You're giving me permission to proceed. No, if anyone I'll be the one giving you permission!" I yell.

"The Time Lord's hearts rate increase!"

"You're damn right they've increased. You see, Daleks, I'm absolutely and utterly hacked off that my Doctor was taken away from me. Do you understand that? You have never seen me angry, Daleks, not even in the Time War, not even after you took away my husband and my child. So I suggest you listen very, very closely, or I will make your death slow and painful and you do not want to test me!"

"We will do nothing you say!" The Dalek leader announces. I point my Sonic Rod at the Dalek and it screams in agony. I kill it from the inside out.

"Who's next?!" I call.

The Dalek next in charge rolls up to me, "What is it you wish?"

"I want the link."

"What link?" It asks as if it has no idea.

"I will kill you too!" I point my rod.

"We will give it to you."

"That's right, you will. And after I've done my business, you're going to leave. Is that clear?"

I get no answer, and I become irate. "IS THAT CLEAR?!"

"It is!" The Dalek shouts back.

"I suggest you don't yell at me! I've lost more things important than your emperor himself! Now," I breathe, "Where is the link you promised?"

A Dalek servant places in my hand the blown up version of an old sonic screwdriver. I take it in my hand and examine it.

"Why this?"

"It was the only artifact we could find!" The Dalek promises.

"Alright. I have my link, and you're going to leave!" I announce and head back to my T.A.R.D.I.S.

"Not without declaring war on your precious Earth!"

I ignore the Daleks and fly the T.A.R.D.I.S back to the Torchwood base. The ship gets ready to fire as I step into the sunlight. I aim the Rod at the ship and it explodes.

"Was that genocide?" a voice asks. Hope rises in me, the Doctor is back. I turn to face him, but my hopes just get dashed again.

"Yes, Wilfred. It was." I hold back my tears and grip the screwdriver.

"What's that?" He points at the artifact in my hand.

"Hopefully, my link back to the Doctor."

"What was that?" The leader of Torchwood walks out and demands of me.

"Oh, I really don't think you want to yell at me, lady."

"You just blew up an alien ship!"

"I did, didn't I?"

"That's illegal!"

"Ask that to Harriet Jones! Oh wait, you can't." I snap, walk back into the T.A.R.D.I.S, and begin my work.

* * *

It's unclear to me of how many days I worked to lock on to the Doctor's signal, but I worked tirelessly, never stopping, even when Donna Temple-Noble would bring us food. I never stopped, never ate, never slept. I ran around frantically, but patiently, analyzing every detail, making sure there was no leeway for it to not work.

"DONE!" I shout and run to the control center.

"Bravo!" Wilfred claps and covers the buttons he knows how to work.

"Allons-y!" I yell in sheer glee. I start up the T.A.R.D.I.S and start to steer it away. Finally, I'm getting back to the one I love. I get my normal life back. I get everything I ever wanted back in my arms.

I'm getting the Doctor back.

We travel a long way, until the T.A.R.D.I.S starts to break, it sputters and crashes. I failed.

I stare at the console in disbelief. Everything I worked for had run like sand through my clenched fists. The salty water pours from my eyes.

"No!" I yell and hit the controls with all my might, hating it, hating the T.A.R.D.I.S. "Take me there! Take me there now!" I scream and fall to my knees and sob. Wilfred respects me, and doesn't speak. "Take me back…" I plead, just like Rose… "Take me back." I bang on the control center. I weep for who knows how many hours.

After a while, I look up to see the words, "Bad Wolf", written across the center, and on the walls. I jump up and see the words written everywhere.

I run out of the T.A.R.D.I.S and see, "Bad Wolf" engraved on a beach, well, more like a bay.

I made it. I'm in the parallel universe. A jeep drives up containing five people. The Meta-Doctor is driving, and the Doctor is by his side in the passenger seat.

"YES!" I shout to the sky and throw my fists in the air, "I made it!"

The Prime Doctor is blind folded; it's a surprise that I'm even here. The Meta-Doctor and Rose lead him out onto the stand.

Rose counts to 3 on her fingers, and takes off the blindfold.

The Doctor's eyes have never been so radiant bright. His grin has never been so joyful. Before I have time to think, he's already running up to me. I run, just to meet him halfway and jump into his arms. We can't even say anything for the first few seconds; I'm too busy enjoying his close embrace, and the smell of his coat. He kisses my cheek and looks me over, making sure I didn't get hurt, or anything, only the hit from the Servant Ganger.

"We can talk later, we need to say goodbye to them." He takes my hand, with a grip so strong; to be sure I never escape him again. I face the Meta-Doctor and the Doctor faced Rose.

"Goodbye Rose Tyler." He says, with a tad of sadness melting from his voice.

"Goodbye." She wraps him in a hug, "Will I ever see you again?"

He shakes his head, "If I ever come back, an even bigger paradox would be created, blowing up your planet."

"But you never know," I add, "He said that the last two times." I grin at the Meta.

"True. Goodbye, Guardian." The Meta hugs me, "You behave, this time. Don't crash under any more roofs." He laughs.

"Yes, sir." I agree.

"And you," the Doctor looks at the Meta-Doctor. "You take care of her! Oh, and don't call us unless necessary. You'll rip holes in the fabric of space and time." He points at the Meta-Doctor.

"Yes, sir. You take care of her too!" He laughs.

"Oh I will. I promise." The Prime Doctor grins.

"See you, Rose." I nod.

She smiles, "Of course."

"Bye Doctor." Jamie waves from the car with Jackie.

"Jackie refuses to see you leave again."

"Awe. Tell her, goodbye for me." He smiles, takes my hand, and start to walk back. We get waves from the family.

"I never liked goodbyes." The Meta and the Doctor say at the same time. "Come on, Rose/Guardian." They say and the distance between us becomes greater. I have to admit, it was hard walking away from them.

When we enter the T.A.R.D.I.S, all of the "Bad Wolf" writings are gone.

"Wilfred? What are you doing here?" The Doctor asks in shock.

"It's a long story."

"Yeah, well I'd like to go home now." He announces.

The Doctor grins and manages the controls, "Allons-y!" He flies the T.A.R.D.I.S back to the Torchwood base.

"Come out with your hands up! We have you surrounded!" The SWAT leader yells.

"Guardian." The Doctor raises his hands and leads all of us out of the T.A.R.D.I.S, "what did you do?"

"Well…. I…"

"She blew up an alien ship."

He looks at me, almost angry, almost, "Tell me it wasn't genocide."

"I have no idea. It was the Daleks."

"Oh so you can blow up the Daleks just because you were mad, is that it?" He ignores the SWAT team.

"You don't know, Doctor! You don't!"

"Please forgive her foolishness." He announces to the Torchwood leaders, "She is learning."

"Consider her forgiven, for now. Now leave this planet, Doctor." The woman commands. Wilfred waves us off as we fly into outer space.

"Was it a big ship?"

"No!" I yell, "There were only 5 Daleks on board."

"Oh good." He grins, "Then I don't feel as bad. How long did you wait?" He looks up at me.

"Three years."

"I am so, so sorry." He wraps me in a hug, "I have missed you."

"I missed you too."

"Did the Vaga Naraha try to mess with you while I was gone?" He checks my purple eyes, and cleans my bruise.

I shake my head, "Did Rose try to mess with you while I was gone?" I ask, as a joke, but there was a hint of truth in my voice.

He steps back, "That isn't even funny."

"Sorry…" I mutter.

"What is your problem with her anyways?" A smirk comes across his face.

"Nothing!" I answer too quickly, "I have no problem with Rose."

"You lie to me, tell me." He raises a brow.

I sigh, "It's just that- it's that, you know." I give up.

"You're jealous, aren't you?" He sneers in my face.

"Oi!" I blush, "So?"

"So! Isn't that always the point?! So!" He goes off talking about the very meaning of the word "so." It's those cute little quirks, the rambling, the way he does his hands, that I've missed the most. He steers the T.A.R.D.I.S into outer space next to a supernova.

"So, Guardian," He walks up to me with a very serious face, "I'm going to make you un-jealous." He declares.

"Oh yeah?" I raise a brow, "How?"

"Like this." He puts his hands on my face and kisses me, carefully, as if he was afraid he would break me.

I pull away, and nod in approval, "Yeah. That worked."


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

"So," the Doctor begins once we're comfortable on the couch in his room, "What happened while I was gone?"

"Well, let's see, I waited what, three years, the first year, I walked around cleaning your mess, the second I tried to forget you, and the third, nothing happened, until the T.A.R.D.I.S came back, and when I got to it, it took me back into random points in time, to major things in your timeline."

"Mine?"

"Yeah, and then let's see, oh I rescued some kids from a Muncath, and got a temporary new companion, James."

"Oh yeah? What happened to him?"

"He um… he, well he..." The Doctor wraps me up in his hug, allowing me to say no more, but I did anyways, "He died."

"I'm so, so sorry."

"That's not the worst of it, so after he died, I was sent to the future, and met up with your Ganger Doctor. We were captured by the other Ganger's who used my memories to create Gangers that looked like everyone I loved."

"Everyone?"

"Just about… the Servant was there, and so was Gwendolyn."

"I'm so sorry, but just for the record, who did you choose?"

"You. I knew they weren't there…and then I went back in time to the Dalek ship, got the link, and eventually came and found you."

"I am so, so sorry…" He repeats, "I owe you so much. Thank you for looking after me…" He smiles.

I nod, "Yeah."

He lifts my chin, "How much impact did everything really have on you, my dear?"

"How can you tell?" I sort of laugh.

"You haven't smiled since back on the T.A.R.D.I.S…"

"So?" I look up at him, "What if I don't want to smile?"

He rolls his eyes, "When do you never want to smile?"

"Recently." I look away.

"Will you be okay?"

I nod, and avoid eye contact.

He lifts my chin again, "Will you really be alright?"

I shrug, "I dunno. Will you?"

He nods.

"So what happened to you?"

"Oh, I lived with the Tyler's for a while, and then I lived in the Torchwood base, working for them, tracking you down. I did just that."

"Was there anyone else?"

He gets a grave look, "Her name was Carol Bennett, but um, she didn't last long. She wanted to travel and meet a nice man. I thought I was up for the job, but every time I would see her, I'd-."

"You'd what?"

"I'd miss you, but um, let's not get into that."

"Not the feely type, huh?" I chuckle.

He smirks and kisses my forehead, "I missed you so much."

"And I you."

"I still can't believe you managed to hold out for me."

"Yeah, well I sort of became you for a while, that's how."

"What do you mean?"

I look at random things in the room, "I took your place, like you told me to. The Daleks think of me as you, now."

"What, did you tell them I regenerated?"

I shook my head, "I'm far worse than you ever were, that's how they knew you and I had combined, or been split apart."

"That's what you meant!" The Doctor had a brainstorm, "When you came to see me, when Rose was taken."

"Yeah." I grin. "I couldn't leave you all by yourself."

"You said you were the Doctor." He remembers.

I laugh, "It's strange, y'know, how so much good can come from so much bad. I saved the universe a couple of times. You took Rose's place, and I took yours." I look back on the entire trip since I've been with the Doctor. I finally see the light. "I'm the Doctor."

"What?" He laughs, "It was a nice cover up."

I stand, "No, really. Think about it. I regenerated before you left, Nine regenerating into Ten, and then you left. Rose Tyler trapped in the other world. I continued, traveling on like I did, but never stopping till I got back to you, and I guess that's just the woman in me, because that's what Rose Tyler did. I have a Sonic Rod, one simple step away from a Sonic Screwdriver. But the thing I still haven't gotten, is why did the Ood come to me and tell me that I was the Doctor's Guardian, I protected the Oncoming storm."

The Doctor stood, looking confused, having no idea what was going on. "If you're the Doctor, than who am I?"

"Agh! Why am I so thick!? You're real, so you're the Doctor too! Ugh! River!" I yell. "She must've told Amelia what you looked like, and she made you real! So you're also the Doctor!"

"Then how did you regenerate?"

I look around, then it comes to me, "Someone must've stolen my memories, but they're coming back!" I shout to the sky. "So who was it?! Daleks? Cyber men?!" I pause, "Well, that's odd. I fell in love with myself." I shake my head and turn back to the empty sky. I sprint out of the T.A.R.D.I.S to find Ellie and Ryan.

"So you weren't Gangers at all! Clever!" I applaud as they load their guns, "Wait, what happens when I regenerate this time? I'll just get my memory back which is not good for you two, because you see; it's all coming back to me anyways. I regenerated on the fields of Tenzalore, like the prophecy foretold. I was finally adapting to being a woman, when you two jut decided to take all of my memory away and put me through hell for the second time!" I yell, the Doctor coming to my side.

"We did it to save you!" Ellie apologizes.

"Liar!" I shout, "You knew something was coming, but what was it?! Tell me!" I demand.

"Our ships would've killed you if you looked like him." Ryan points to the Doctor by my side.

"Your ships, where are they now?" I ask.

"They're here."

All of the sudden, huge rockets enter the Earth's atmosphere, a missile heads our way.

"I told you!" Ellie shrieks.

"Doctor!" I yell.

"It will kill you." He stands in the place of the missiles aim and takes the blow as Ellie, Ryan and I run for our lives.

"NO!" I shout as the ground around him blow up. I run back to the ground zero, and look around for any remains; all I get is a busted Sonic Screwdriver and a pair of converse. I turn to Ellie and Ryan, revenge filling my eyes to the brim of tears. "They will pay."

"You can't!" They scream as I run into my T.A.R.D.I.S and blast away into the spaceship above.

"Surrender, Guardian."

I put on the pair of converse, slip the screwdriver into my pocket and step out. "Not the Guardian, no, she's dead." The ships are holding a ton of Vaga Naraha and Tylin half breeds. I nod and look around, "That makes sense. Guess I gotta clean up my mess now, huh?" I pace around as they all load their guns and aim.

"What is your intention?"

"Fun? Nah, not this time. I'm back for revenge."

"You're back? We've never seen you before."

"No, you have. I'm just back from the dead." I smirk. "So, I'll ask you once, leave this planet or never return, or I'll have to make you leave."

"Never! We are so close to world domination!" Their commander shoots me in chest, but it doesn't hit. A shadow-ish figure ran ahead of me and took the blast.

"Jack!" I shriek and kneel beside him.

"He's dead!" The leader, Crame, laughs.

I look up, even more hatred in my eyes.

"You did this to us, Guardian. You brought this upon yourself."

"But I'm not the Guardian. I'm the Doctor." I grin, and point the Rod at the control panel. "How many times do I have to prove that putting your control panel in the middle of your ship is not the smartest move?" I sigh and direct the ships into outer space.

Crame walks up, with his hand up, "Alright, you won. What now?"

I shake my head, "No. It can't be that easy!" I run to the T.A.R.D.I.S, point my Rod at the controls one more time and send the ships into the very corners of the universe.

I fly to Earth where Ellie and Ryan are shooting down other Vaga-Tylin breeds.

"If I can shut them down from my T.A.R.D.I.S, It should send them with the rest of the Tylins!" I announce and run into my blue box, and start to re-route some of my controls to create a temporary teleport to send all the Tylins back to their ship. "I got it!" I run back out to find Ryan on the ground, dead.

"He got hit!" Ellie screams and keeps shooting. I kneel and examine his vitals.

"He didn't make it, Ellie." I say, sorrowful.

She continues to shoot the next round of breeds as she cries.

"Come on, woman!" I yell to her. She stops shooting, looks at her brother and runs into my T.A.R.D.I.S. "Back to the Tylin ships we go, along with the others…" I dance around the controls and appear in the same place.

"Give me Jack, and I'll give you Ellie." I bargain.

The commander sighs, "Alright."

Jack Harkness grins at me and stands by my side.

"Goodbye, Ellie." I smile, "Thank you for your help. I wouldn't have made it without you."

"Thank you, Doctor." She nods through tears.

"We'll bury your brother, with honor." I promise.

"Goodbye." She walks back to her leader.

* * *

Jack and I trudge into the T.A.R.D.I.S.

"You are something, Guardian."

"Oh, it's not the Guardian, anymore." I control the T.A.R.D.I.S to the Torchwood base.

"What do you mean?"

"You see, Ellie and Ryan took my memories to protect me, if I hadn't the Vaga-Tylin breeds would've killed me. I'm really the Doctor."

He looks me up and down, "The Doctor as a woman?"

I nod, "Something like that. Here's Torchwood."

"Doctor! Doctor! We need help!" A girl bangs on my door. We raise a brow at each other and run out. "There's a free Vaga Naraha, no Tylin!" She points at a shadow-ish looking figure in the corner.

"Hello again." I walk up to it.

"How do you know this guy, Doctor?"

The Vaga Naraha smirks, "Oh so you finally figured it out? I helped out with the forgetting process."

"That's why I went to the dreaming room." I think.

"Of course! The more insane, the farther away from the Doctor, but I should finish what I started." It attacks my insides, making me fall on the ground in pain as it destroys my vital organs.

"Doctor!" Jack shouts and tackles the Vaga Naraha after me. I point my Rod at it and capture it in its compartment. I groan and lay my head back on the floor.

"You don't look so great." Jack kneels beside me.

I nod and examine my pale hand, as soon as I run a finger over an area, the color comes back.

"I'm regenerating. That was a beating I took." I reply and stand.

"What are you going to go now?" Jack stood in my T.A.R.D.I.S.

"Travel, like always."

He asks, "Alone?"

"I figure I'd find a new companion sooner or later, unless you want to come."

He grins, "That'd be fun. I've been missing this ol' place."

I smirk, "Even I don't have all of my memories back, I don't think I remember how long I've traveled with you before."

"Eh, it's been a bit off and on over the years."

I groan and double over, "Not yet. I'm not ready." I steer the T.A.R.D.I.S back to a specific place. "Wait here." I command and walk through the snow.

"Where are you?" I call to the Ood, and he appears.

"Hello, Doctor."

"Hi, tell me, why did you say that I was the Doctor's Guardian, if I never really changed. I was the Doctor all this time…"

"You did change. You were the Guardian for a long time, before you remembered who you really are."

"So what happened to her, The Guardian, that is?" I stand and gather my strength.

"She is inside of you. The Guardian is a real Time Lord, she just cannot come out of you anymore, she's used up her time to take care of you while you away."

"So, she died for me?"

"Kind of. She never really existed, and yet, she never really died."

I nod as the Ood disappears, "Jack!" I fall into the snow, "Jack, I need help!"

He runs up and puts my shoulder around me, "Come on then, time to get the real Doctor back." He lays me in the T.A.R.D.I.S. I look around as the Guardian, one last time.

"This is strange; I never imagined dying like this." The Guardian in me smiles around at the control room. "I guess it's my time to go, is it, Doctor?"

I nod, being myself again.

The Guardian sheds a tear, "I didn't know it would be this way."

"I'm sorry." I apologize.

"What happens to me, once we regenerate?"

I shake my head, "I don't know. We'll just have to find out, but you shouldn't be too far away." I reassure.

"Goodbye, Doctor." She cries.

"Goodbye, my Guardian."

"Can I have the last words?" She asks.

I grin, "Of course."

"It's strange," She repeats, "how much good can come from so much pain, and anger, and frustration, and bad. I'll be back, Doctor. My debt has yet to be paid. I'll see you again."

"How do you know?" Jack asks, amazed, from the side.

She smiles, "Trust me, I'm a Doctor. I'll see you."

We burst into regeneration, fire shooting out of my arms and head. I was changing. The physical pain wasn't as bad as the emotional. I felt the Guardian leaving my body. I shed my long purple hair and purple eyes and change back into a man.

I rub my face and look around. Jack is struck by what just happened, and all is silent.

"Well, how am I?"

Jack doesn't answer.

I roll my eyes, "I'll go look myself then!" I stumble to the nearest mirror and examine myself. I have my ninth regeneration's green-ish eyes, the tenth regeneration's facial features, like his nose and mouth, but I have the eleventh regeneration's hair. I grin, "That's a wow- new mouth." I scan my tongue over my teeth. "Just like the tenths. I like this."

"You're a perfect mix of everyone, Doctor." Jack comments.

I wiggle my eyebrows, "I know, isn't it spectacular?"

"Where is the Guardian?"

I shrug, "She's in here somewhere, along with everyone else." I furrow my eyebrows, trying to find her. I reach in my pocket and find a brand new sonic screwdriver. "She took the Rod with her, wherever she went." I check out its purple light. "I think I found a part of her." I smirk.

* * *

Jack and I continued to travel together, saving the worlds, one at a time, until he had to leave back to Torchwood, and left me alone again. I really didn't mind. Somewhere racked in my brain was the Guardian and my tenth regeneration, just talking away. I never really understood the depths of how much change the Guardian ensured on me while I was lost in her brain, but I don't think I ever truly returned to myself, because there was always that doubt. The question, "What if this is the continued trick of the Vaga Naraha", but I quickly put it aside, I'm back as the Doctor, and I know that's how I'm destined to stay for the rest of my life.

I traveled alone, for some time, when I stumbled across a strange girl in the current time. I was saving the world from some Santarons, when I ran into on the ship. It turns out, she was investigating. All by herself! A human teenager, I was impressed and made her my newest companion, to this day, in fact. Her eyes are a slight shade of purple, and she loves to smile. Her name is Carol Bennett.


End file.
